Is your business suffering
from the September slump?

The majority of ecommerce clients’ peak season is unsurprisingly Oct-Dec, with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and the holiday gift-giving period boosting conversion rates and driving up revenue. However, this often means dealing with a much softer market in the month of September. The IMRG Online Retail Index noted a 12.5% drop in online sales YoY in 2021, and we can see a similar trend across the majority of clients this year.

On average, across our accounts, we can see a drop in conversion rate by a full percentage point or more compared to August, which has affected performance across a wide range of industries; however, CTRs on average are up by 25%, suggesting the consumers are in a stage of “browsing not buying”.

Considering the current economic climate, with consumers seeing a constant barrage of news around supply chain issues, rising inflation rates, and reports of an impending recession, this drop in performance is, of course, a concern to many. However, it’s not all bad news.

“Early data from Morning Consult, a global intelligence company, finds that people plan to spend about the same amount on gifts as they did last year.” Inflation rates and concerns around cost saving, however, mean they will be in the market for deals and discounts.

With this in mind, here are a few tips from the LION team on how to weather the storm and win in the holiday season:

1. Capitalise on any low-cost traffic to the site now. Consumers who are visiting your site have put you in their consideration set and may come back to purchase in the following months. Invest in owned channels, like SEO, Email and CRO and make the most of the visitors already have and how you can expand this.
2. Start planning for sales and promotions now, and talk to the team about the best way to market these. You might want to consider adding retargeting to your strategy to let people know about discounts or flesh out your email strategy to capture low-hanging fruit. Think creatively about how you will stand out from the crowd during Black Friday and other upcoming holiday sales periods.
3. Consider your ROAS thresholds carefully. While we don’t recommend going dark during this time, don’t spend at the cost of margin to the business when the money can be better used later in the year.
4. Leverage new formats like YouTube shopping and awareness channels to bring new customers to the brand.

Reach out to the team at LION for advice and strategy tips that are personalised to your business.