For ecommerce brands, Q4 is the big star of the year and a period in time where brands can acquire more customers, build upon the yearly momentum, and grow revenue.
Steady sale growth is expected to grow for retail and ecommerce brands. According to the National Retail Federation forecasts that holiday sales will increase by 2.5% to 3.5% in 2024, resulting in $980 billion in sales, compared to $955 billion in 2023.
Specifically when it comes to ecommerce, the NRF expects ecommerce sales to grow by 8% to 9%, totaling $295 billion to $300 billion.
While the focus right now is Black Friday and Cyber Monday (month,) brands should ask themselves how to continue the momentum and build loyalty after BFCM?
We highlight two ecommerce brands that share insights on how to continue building your community and growing post-Black Friday Cyber Monday (BFCM).
Tim Peckover
Nina Berenato Jewelry engages through its loyalty program
Nina Berenato Jewelry is a jewelry brand with locations throughout Texas. From gold-plated jewelry to permanent jewelry, Nina Berenato Jewelry is handcrafted by founder Nina Berenato and her all-woman team in Austin, Texas.
BFCM is an acquisition period for Nina Berenato Jewelry through both in-store and online shopping. The ecommerce brand runs two major sales throughout the year, one during Cyber Monday and another in July for its sample sale. The brand engages customers after BFCM through its loyalty program, NB Girl Gang. By having customers sign up for its loyalty program, they are more incentivized to come back, whether online or in-store.
Capturing first-party data from your customers, such as email addresses, names, and purchase history, can help you craft a strategy to engage customers during slow retail periods. Nina Beranato Jewelry runs a sale during the summer months when retail is usually slower, so having a healthy customer information database helps the ecommerce brand engage previous customers.
Gabrielle Policella
“The loyalty program has been a huge driver in people signing up for emails,” Tess says. Nina Berenato uses its loyalty program to engage its community throughout the year. “Smile helps with different price points so customers can buy a piece that is more expensive by collecting points.”
Its loyalty program also engages a team of 60+ people on the Nina Berenato staff team. “We love using Smile, even personally. I like it because I know I’m 50 points away from being able to get the $70 I need,” Tess explains. “Even our employees enjoy it because not everyone is able to buy all of the pieces they want, but they know on their birthday, they’ll get 1000 points. So it's a nice incentive for both customers and employees.”
Testing out sales with your most loyal customers like Itzy Ritzy
Itzy Ritzy is a baby goods brand with everything new parents need, from stylish diaper bags to toys and everything in between. Its brand community is at the core of its marketing, evident by its thriving 20,000+ member Facebook group that the team treats as an advisory council.
Before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Itzy Ritzy offers exclusive early access to its loyalty program members. Members could use rewards to redeem exclusive, limited-edition products dropped before Black Friday and Cyber Monday this year. But during the actual BFCM sales weekend, customers can only earn points. With an average redemption rate of 32% (18% higher than the industry average), Itzy Ritzy utilizes Ritzy Rewards to its full potential.
“We do early access to our rewards members a week or two ahead of time,” Lauren Guttormsen, Director of CRM and Loyalty Marketing, explains. “This gives us a chance to regroup before the entire sale goes live to the general public, to say here are the things we need to add a little more inventory to, or here are the things we should be featuring in our ads or in our emails that would really get people to convert because the rewards members are really shopping those highly. It gives us a sneak peak data that we can use in our marketing as we get into the more official sale week.”
Gabrielle Policella
“We try really hard to rely on that early access as a benefit to get those reward members in early and shopping early so that we can bank on a certain level of participation early on,” Lauren says. “It helps us to get the momentum going in a way. It also gives us the benefit of seeing what things are most popular during that sales event.”
Building loyalty beyond BFCM is all about communication for Itzy Ritzy. They remind people that even if you can’t use your points, you’re earning through the BFCM season. “So either you can come back after you’ve got all the things you want on sale, and you can earn a pretty decent reward and come back and get that next thing at a pretty good discount, too,” Lauren explains.
Gabrielle Policella
Loyalty happens year-round
With a loyalty program, you can ensure your customers are engaged at their highest level and incentivized to return for a repeat purchase.
Smile loyalty programs:
- Increase Average Order Value
- Increase how often shoppers return
- Decrease the time between purchases
- Increase how likely they are to return
The best ecommerce brands know that building community and engaging customers doesn’t stop or end because your holiday season is over or you have no products to promote; community happens even when you aren’t thinking about it.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on November 30, 2023, and was updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness on November 15, 2024.
