Keeping momentum after the Christmas Spike

Happy Friday!

I hope you’ve had a great week and have something nice planned for the weekend.

Today is the first day of November. Halloween is over and any minute now they’ll start playing carols in the shops—I’ve already seen Christmas mince pies in the supermarket. It’s official, the silly season is underway.

I’m sure you have a flurry of marketing activity planned for next couple of months, but today I want to give you some strategies to keep the momentum going into the new year and avoid the January dip.

Here’s what I’ve got for you:

Concept
🎁 7 strategies to boost sales in the new year

Studio News
🚀 Just launched!

🎁 CONCEPT

7 strategies to boost sales in the new year

Every January, brands face a big dip in sales following their Christmas spike. To bring in some cash flow, businesses employ the same old strategy—a huge Boxing Day and/or New Year sale. The discounts seem to get bigger and bigger and I wonder how on Earth they’re still making a profit.

So this year, I have some alternative ideas to try that focus on repeat purchases, loyalty, and targeted marketing rather than obliterating your margins.

Let’s get into it.

1. Engage first-time buyers with an exclusive offer
   Many people will make a one-off purchase for a Christmas present. Set up an email flow for first-time buyers and turn them into repeat customers with an exclusive offer.
   
   

2. Launch a new product
   Give people an exciting reason to come back to your site.
   
   

3. Encourage people to join your loyalty programme
   Drive immediate and long-term sales by incentivising customers to join your loyalty programme. Limited-time offers like ‘double points’ are a great way to get any fence-sitters over the line.
   
   

4. Run a retargeting campaign
   Capitalise on the spike in Christmas traffic by running a retargeting ad campaign in the new year. Sometimes remaining top of mind is all it takes to make a sale.
   
   

5. Promote subscriptions
   When the holidays are over, people start looking at how they can get back into a healthy routine. January is famously a time for good intentions but it doesn’t take long for most people to abandon their resolutions. For health and beauty products, tea and coffee, healthy food options and organisational products, a well-timed subscription can be the difference between ongoing purchases and a one-off impulse buy.
   
   

6. Collect reviews
   Make the most of the spike in sales by collecting reviews. Offering an incentive, like a discount on their next purchase is a good way to incentivise reviews while encouraging further sales.
   
   

7. Set up a ‘top up’ email flow 
   If you’re selling items that run out like food and drinks or health and beauty items, send reminder emails encouraging customers to top up their supply.

Instead of discounting to drive sales, focus on what value you can offer customers as they enter a fresh year. Be mindful that many of your customers will be wary of splurging on big-ticket items or luxury purchases following an expensive couple of months, so this is the time to push more affordable products or highlight the product benefits in a way that resonates with your customer’s mindset.

🚀 STUDIO NEWS

Just launched!

This week, we launched a new Shopify site for Tāmaki Makaurau art gallery, Te Uru.

Te Uru Gallery plays a crucial role in New Zealand’s art landscape, offering a vibrant programme of exhibitions and events that bridge local and global dialogues. Through international exchanges and curator programs, the gallery supports both established and emerging artists, emphasising overlooked voices and diverse perspectives.

The new site promotes the gallery’s exhibitions and events, highlights their commitment to enriching and teaching the community, and has a dedicated ecommerce section where they sell beautiful books, locally-produced goods and more (it’s worth checking out if you’re trying to get ahead on your Christmas shopping).

That’s all from me this week.

Thanks for reading!

Have a great weekend.

Alex Murton
Managing Director & Co-Founder
Studio Almond