Is there any occasion that stumps shoppers quite like Mother’s Day? What should be an easy gift purchase has the potential to overwhelm customers, as they navigate unfamiliar websites and products they wouldn’t normally buy for themselves.
As an online retailer, your goal is to make this gift-buying process as effortless as possible. Let’s take a look at the ecommerce tactics that keep customers happy and conversions high in the run-up to Mother’s Day.
5 Ways to Streamline Mother’s Day Shopping: Mother’s Day Merchandising Tips
Guide shoppers straight to the perfect Mother’s Day gift with these 5 tips.
Curate a Mother’s Day Gift Guide
Don’t force Mother’s Day shoppers to aimlessly browse multiple categories in search of the ideal gift. Instead, curate a selection of suitable products in a single location to improve gift discovery and boost conversions.
For example, a homeware store could pull together a cross-section of candles, vases, photo frames, throw blankets, and more – all on a dedicated landing page.
Add in some eye-catching banners and badges to highlight best sellers and popular results to help uncertain shoppers easily identify reliable gift choices.
For the truly undecided shopper, include inline banners to promote your gift cards.
The Paper Store uses landing pages with custom categories to promote their Mother’s Day Gift Guide
» Learn More About The Paper Store
Simplify Gift Discovery with Filters
Within your gift guide, support shoppers to filter products to meet their unique needs. Mother’s Day customers may want to narrow results by age bracket, budget, hobbies, or interests, so replace standard product filters with helpful sub-categories.
Provide inspiration with filters like Ideas to Pamper Mom, Sustainable Gifts, Gifts for Bookworms, or Gifts under $50. Complement this approach with a gift guide blog post that breaks down your top products or staff picks for Mother’s Day.
Altitude Sports uses custom filters to personalize the experience and anticipate needs
Cross and Upsell with Recommendations
As shoppers browse Mother’s Day gifts, you can begin to personalize their shopping journey. Use recommendations to serve up hyper-relevant gift suggestions alongside the products being viewed at any given moment.
For example, if a customer views a series of bath products by a particular brand, surface more results from the same line under “You May Also Like.” Even better, upsell hampers or gift sets that bundle relevant products together.
Recommendations also equip you to subtly cross-sell complementary accessories, such as matching jewelry or purse and wallet sets. Read More About Pearl iZumi
Pearl iZumi recommends products based on actual shopper behavior and data
Merchandise, Merchandise, Merchandise
With your gift guide in place, it’s time to promote it site-wide. Start with homepage banners to remind customers that Mother’s Day is fast approaching, and continue this messaging on category and inline banners – all of which should link to your landing page. Apply the same visuals to your social media posts, email communications, and other advertising campaigns to stay top of shoppers’ minds and drive traffic to your gift guide. Finally, make sure your merchandising includes details of final shipping dates and “buy online, pickup in store” options for last minute shoppers. Read More About Fabletics
Yitty by Fabletics links to special collection pages on their homepage with a colorful, eye-catching banner
Optimize Search Results
For those lucky shoppers who know exactly what gift to buy, your site search plays a starring role in their path to purchase. Ensure your search bar offers autocorrect, auto-predict, and “did you mean” suggestions to streamline their search – remember, Mother’s Day customers may not be familiar with the precise name or spelling of mom’s favorite product. Likewise, synonyms ensure searches for terms like “home fragrance” return associated products like scented candles and oil diffusers. Last but not least, configure your search to direct queries like, “mother’s day gift ideas” to your merchandised landing page. » Read More About Boody
Boody implemented autocomplete on their on-site search to guide shoppers to popular products
Use These Mother’s Day Merchandising Tips to Make Mother’s Day Shopping a Breeze
Strategic merchandising takes the stress out of Mother’s Day shopping and boosts your bottom line.
With thoughtful product curation, helpful filters, relevant recommendations, and intuitive search, your customers are on a fast-track to find the perfect gift.
Want to learn more about how to prepare your site for special occasions like Mother’s Day? Get in touch with our team of ecommerce experts, or check out our webinars!
