If you're experiencing "Last Minute Christmas Gift Stress Syndrome", you're not alone.
Maybe you're trying to find a gift for that special someone, or you pulled your uncle's friend's son for Secret Santa (the last time you saw him was 20 years ago, when you were 11... ), finding the perfect gift can feel overwhelming.
That's what holiday gift guides are for.
Gift guides help customers have a frictionless shopping experience by narrowing down their options and increasing their chance of purchasing, which is a win, win for you and them.
But the benefits for retailers don’t stop there. Gift guides also:
- Convert newsletter subscribers and website browsers into paying customers.
- Improve customer lifetime value by engaging past and existing customers.
- Inspire last-minute shoppers.
- Highlight specific products or collections.
If you have the bandwidth, you can create your gift guide with all the bells and whistles. We get that budgets can be a little tight in Q4, so if you don't have the $$$ to hire a graphic designer, you can design a beautiful holiday gift guide in Canva yourself (and for free).
It can also be as easy as creating a designated landing page or holiday collection in your Shopify store.
Just remember that most shoppers will be browsing on mobile, so whichever option you choose, be sure to test it on all devices!
When choosing your gift guide products, you’ll want to fully understand your customer avatar and their pain and passion points (your recommendations should align with these). If you need help determining which products to feature, reference your sales history, reviews, or ask your audience through interactive social posts.
Once you determine your products, you’ll want to segment the items into manageable sections. Ease of browsing is key! There's a multitude of categories you can use, depending on your product selection.
Let's look at some category examples.
- Hair care, skin care, bath
- Him, her, kids, home, beauty
- Beer, wine, spirits
- Under $10, under $25, under $50, under $100, etc.
- 12 and under, toddlers, 1-year-old, tween girls
- Boss
- Father-in-law
- Golf fanatic
- Best sellers, customer favourite, hottest gifts
- CEO picks, staff member picks
- Award-winning
Another fun idea: Create an interactive Gift Finder Quiz that determines personalized recommendations based on the quiz answers. For an easier version, create a flowchart with set questions and recommendations.
Bundles are a great way to move specific inventory. Combine best sellers with complementary products or slow movers to help clear them out. Discounting your bundles can motivate purchases and increase average order value.
Lastly, always include gift cards in your guides. Especially this year, gift cards can be a saving grace for last-minute shoppers who missed shipping deadlines.
Now that your gift guide is created, it's time to promote it!
Use a banner on your site to direct customers to your guide. The point is to remove buying friction; if customers struggle to find the guide, you’ve lost the purpose.
Send email campaigns featuring either all the categories, some categories, or even just one at a time. You can also feature the guide at the bottom of every email you send during the holiday season for shopping ease. Emails with gift guides generate 48% higher sales compared to promotional emails.
Publish your guide on your social accounts. This is a great time to reuse old content featuring key products, or user-generated content to save time.
To help you create and promote your gift guide as soon as possible, we've curated a collection of high-converting gift guide landing pages, emails, and subject lines.
