The predictions are in: the 2021 holiday season is expected to see an increase in year-over-year spending coupled with significant inventory challenges due to shipping delays. As COVID continues to have varying effects on different parts of the world, a strong digital strategy is critical to connecting with consumers and fulfilling their “wish lists” this year.

Here are steps you can take now so the 2021 holiday season is a success for your business. Instead of looking to upgrade or replace your MarTech right now – which will take a significant time and monetary investment – look for opportunities to maximize your existing tech and processes.

1. Evaluate what’s worked before

While we all hoped the pandemic would have subsided by now, it hasn’t, which means we have a sense of some of the challenges we may experience this holiday shopping season. Evaluate what worked last year: how did your marketing campaigns perform? What channels saw the most engagement? What lessons did you learn that can be applied to this year?

It’s important to take what’s worked from the past and reimagine it for this year’s season. Your team will continue to optimize campaigns, leaning heavily on digital experiences, and be able to enjoy successes without repeating the same mistakes.

2. Organize a detailed holiday season playbook

Capture all elements of your holiday retail strategy in a detailed playbook that incorporates all campaign elements, teams that will be involved, and tasks each individual must complete. The more granular this is, the less likely tasks will fall through the cracks.

Also include different scenarios and backup plans based on challenges that could arise. For example, how will you handle an inventory shortage? Some retailers like Walmart are chartering their own shipping vessels so they have more control of their inventory throughout the supply chain and have the option to dock at smaller ports. Others like Lululemon are adding extra air shipments to avoid ports as much as possible. You may not have as much resources as these retailers, but what can you do that’s reasonable for your business and customers?

If you need planning support, we can help. Check out our Peak Season planning course on Acoustic Academy for guidelines, best practices, and inspiration (sign-in required).

3. Get everyone on the same page

After you’ve compiled your comprehensive holiday playbook, ensure every internal and external stakeholder who will support it is aligned with the plan. The holidays are a busy time; confirm you have team members who can support each phase of your strategy and backups in case people are out of office or otherwise unavailable.

Help keep your team organized by resetting passwords to ensure all your systems have an active login, create step-by-step checklists to confirm all tasks are executed in a timely manner, and encourage your team to bookmark important documents, links, and folders so they can move quickly when it comes time to execute.

You should also verify that everyone contributing to your campaign’s success knows how to connect with your vendors’ support teams should problems arise. 

4. Set campaigns up in advance

Last-minute changes and delays happen, but it’s always better to be as prepared as possible. Schedule your campaigns well in advance so if those tweaks come in at the eleventh hour, you’ll have everything else in place and ready to go.

Another part of preparing your campaigns will be a thorough quality assurance (QA) check to help prevent any surprises hindering your team during peak shopping periods.

5. Optimize your data processes

While listed last, this is one of the most important steps to success for retailers. Recent shifts in the privacy landscape have made first- and zero-party data strategies critical. Rather than relying on third-party metrics for reporting, get systems in place that can help you evaluate how your campaigns perform based on the metrics you’re able to collect directly from your audience and owned properties.

You can use this data to continue to optimize your campaigns throughout the holiday season based on new trends and buying behaviors. Things can change quickly, and the more agile your data processes are, the better you’ll be able to adapt.

Stay tuned for more 2021 holiday retail tips and tricks in the coming weeks. In the meantime, if you have any questions about leveraging MarTech to win this shopping season, get in touch with us today.