In the run up to Christmas, the key date for all retailers is your last postage (shipping date).
But what can you do after this date has passed to still generate sales for your business?
Vouchers!
So I’ve rounded up 3 examples of other retailers using this tactic to give you some inspiration:
1. Buyagift
What’s Good?
In this email (sent on Christmas eve), Buyagift are highlighting a key trend (last minute Christmas shopping!) and offering a solution to this common problem – order a e-voucher!
They have also added some personality into the email by including an image of the team and a festive greeting.
The email then calls out key gift areas broken down by ‘For Him’/’For Her’ etc. in order to allow the subscriber to get straight through to gifts that would be relevant for the person they are looking to buy for. This area also features in other emails sent by Buyagift in the run up to Christmas.
The benefits of ordering through Buyagift to make the customer feel more secure in their purchase are also shown at the bottom of every email.
What Could Be Improved?
This email is currently built entirely of images meaning that when images are disabled (which they are by default in many email clients) there is nothing in the email to encourage subscribers to turn on the images or indicate what the content is. Large images and no text content can also trigger some spam filters, particularly if you have a lower Sender Reputation.
I would recommend adding content wherever possible in as text and using image ALT tags to rectify this.
Additionally, at this late stage, I would recommend testing the inclusion of the section directing people to different gift sections to see what results this achieves; when buying an e-voucher you don’t select only specific gifts that it can be used on and delivery is no longer available before Christmas for specific products.
2. Prezzo
What’s Good?
Here Prezzo are specifically focusing on last minute presents and buying a gift card – this email was sent on the 14th December and the gift cards still need to be shipped to the recipient.
Social media follow links are clearly found in the footer of all email templates.
What Could Be Improved?
Prezzo could consider offering e-vouchers so that these can be sold right up until Christmas to extend their gift sales period.
3. SecretSales
What’s Good?
This email from SecretSales (sent on Christmas Eve) is focused on offering gift vouchers; calling out the benefit ‘let them choose what they really want’.
This hits on three key elements around Christmas time (not ordering gifts in time for delivery, not knowing what to buy for that special someone or being worried they may not like what you choose anyway) as well as providing the solution – buying a gift voucher.
Social media follow links are clearly found in the footer of all email templates.
The call to action is repeated twice in the email
What Could Be Improved?
This email is currently built entirely of images meaning that when images are disabled (which they are by default in many email clients) there is nothing in the email to encourage subscribers to turn on the images or indicate what the content is. Large images and no text content can also trigger some spam filters, particularly if you have a lower Sender Reputation.
I would recommend adding content wherever possible in as text and using image ALT tags to rectify this.The main call to actions could also be created using ‘bullet-proof’ buttons so that even with images disabled, the subscriber is still able to see this and take action.
I would also recommend that SecretSales add a pre-header into their emails (the very first line of text that appears in an email above the main template) that backs up the subject line and also includes their main call to action; this means that without scrolling down or turning images on subscribers will still be able to take action.
