Valentine’s Day is all about blissful romance and affection, but for some gift buyers, it can be filled with stress trying to find the perfect gift. How much should they spend? What brand should they buy? Which color should they choose? These questions and more can be answered through Valentine’s merchandising. Simplify the process and these shoppers will keep coming back year after year.
4 Valentine’s Merchandising Tips For an Irresistible Shopper Experience
Follow these four merchandising tips to simplify the gift-buying journey this Valentine’s Day.
1. Curate a Show-Stopping Gift Guide
Sometimes, shopping for the one person we know better than anyone else can be difficult. Finding the perfect gift is often made more challenging when shoppers are on an unfamiliar site researching products they do not buy for themselves.
This is where a gift guide comes in.
Create a dedicated category or landing page featuring Valentine’s-friendly products. Create a romantic aesthetic and make it easy for customers to find the perfect gift. Use badges to highlight bestsellers and create filters for fast shipping or in-store pickup options. A well-executed gift guide can form the basis of your entire Valentine’s marketing campaign. It provides the perfect landing page to link to from email communications, social media, and more.
2. Offer Product Finders For the Perfect Match
Product finders offer a slightly different method to find the perfect gift, but the results are essentially the same. Ask shoppers a series of questions – who they are buying for, what styles they like, what their favorite color is, what budget they have, etc. – and guide them directly to relevant results. This is just one way to bring the in-store assistance that many Valentine’s shoppers look for at a brick-and-mortar store, online.
Gift finder tools are especially useful for online stores that sell jewelry or beauty products. Lack of product familiarity when shopping for someone else can be an obstacle in the path to purchase. Don’t force confused shoppers to navigate unknown categories and product terminology when you can refine their search and do the heavy lifting for them.
3. Valentine’s Merchandising That Inspire Romance
Go by almost any brick-and-mortar store in February, you’ll encounter a sea of pink and red signage and heart-covered displays. This isn’t just intended to inspire warm and fuzzy feelings, it’s also a reminder that Valentine’s Day is approaching and encourages customers to start shopping.
Your ecommerce store should do the exact same thing. Update your homepage to draw attention to your gift guide and advertise it throughout your site using inline banners. Beyond the gift guide, boost and pin Valentine-related products to the top of pages. Even if you don’t have super-specific Valentine’s themed products for sale, feature red, pink, and white products to create an aesthetic, pull together items for a perfect date night, or feature great gift ideas “for him” or “for her” to help narrow down choices.
4. Read Shoppers’ Minds With Recommendations
Intelligent, AI, and data-driven product recommendations are another helpful way to simplify gift-buying for shoppers. Much like the in-store shopping experience, ecommerce recommendations play the role of the knowledgeable store associate who can quickly point customers in the right direction.
On product pages, offer suggestions of other similar results to spotlight favorite styles. It’s also important to cross-sell matching accessories, such as earring and necklace sets. Finally, try adding a last minute upsell at the checkout. Think of things like the option to add flowers or chocolates to their order, for example. Any gift-buying guidance that reduces searching and makes comparison easy is sure to boost Valentine’s conversions.
Form a Lasting Relationship With Shoppers This Valentine’s Day
Whether it’s a budding romance or long-term love, Valentine’s shopping can be a daunting task. Make gift buying a breeze and build lasting relationships with customers who will come back time and again with Valentine’s merchandising.
A gift guide lies at the heart of your strategy. From there, eye-catching merchandising and effortless product discovery equips shoppers with the tools they need to find the perfect gift with ease.
