With the new decade fast approaching, and with global online shopping revenue expected to rise past $4 trillion in 2020, there’s no better time to plan ahead and prepare for the new calendar’s biggest shopping events.
But which ones should sellers look out for? Read on to find out some of the key dates you really need in your 2020 diary, and what your business can do to take advantage of these key retail harvests!
Blue Monday: 20th January 2020
Typically the third Monday in January, Blue Monday is claimed to be the most depressing day of the year. The inevitable comedown from the dizzying highs of Christmas and New Year has well and truly set in, it’s cold and dark outside, and if you’re in the UK, the next public holiday is months away.
So what better way to get power through those January blues than with a shot of retail therapy! Many consumers will find that they have a little extra cash to spend as a result of ‘Dry January’, so Blue Monday presents the perfect opportunity to offer some discounts and help raise the spirits of consumers.
Sellers should also consider promoting products or matching their storefront artwork to this year’s Pantone Colour of the Year — Classic Blue, or to be more specific, Pantone 19-4052. Described by Pantone as “a reassuring presence, instilling calm, confidence and connection”, it puts a feel-good spin on the whole Blue Monday experience.
St. Patrick’s Day: 17th March 2020
Despite being primarily a celebration of the patron saint of Ireland, St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated worldwide by both the Irish and non-Irish, with total spending hitting almost £4.5 billion!
Irish-themed and green coloured merchandise is always popular in the build-up to St. Patrick’s Day, but you could promote products and create content associated with luck to tap into the fun side of this ever-popular event.
Festival Season: May — September 2020
With over a quarter of the UK’s adults and plenty of families attending music festivals over the last year, and with many festival-goers preferring to attend a festival than go on holiday, the need for festival supplies is perhaps greater than ever!
The growing number of these colourful and fun-loving events throughout the summer gives you an opportunity to theme your e-commerce and social media content accordingly. Consider targeting revellers with discounted bundles of festival gear and keep an eye out for the headline acts — they may help you to strike a chord with your target audience!
Prime Day: 13-14 July 2020
First introduced in 2015, Prime Day (actually spread over two days) has gone from strength to strength, featuring over 1 million deals sitewide, with all prices exclusive to Prime members and the number of Prime subscribers passing 100 million people across the globe!
It’s important to remember that Prime Day is more than about main two shopping days alone. The majority of shoppers visit amazon seven days prior to completing their purchase – so plan ahead and get primed and ready!
UPDATE
Due to the COVID’19 pandemic, Amazon Prime Day has been moved to October 13-14th 2020!
Singles’ Day: 11 November 2020
With bigger sales revenues than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined in 2019 — a whopping £29 billion — Singles’ Day is the biggest shopping event in the calendar.
It took off after China’s largest online marketplace, Alibaba, adopted the event in 2009, having started out when a group of single students decides to create an anti-Valentines celebration for fellow singletons on a date represented by four ‘ones’ (11/11).
With up to 90% of purchases being made via mobile but increasing bounce rates of 42%, optimising your listings for mobile will help to make the most of this bumper shopping bonanza!
Black Friday: 27 November 2020 and Cyber Monday: 30 November 2020
By now a staple in the e-commerce calendar, the Black Friday to Cyber Monday long weekend continues to grow year on year, with combined revenues of over £12.5 billion!
When it comes to making the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, ensure that all your e-commerce and marketing content is fully optimised several weeks in advance in order to attract a share of that enormous swell of traffic. Some brands opt to plan their Black Friday strategies months ahead, so you can’t really start too early! Take a look at our Black Friday and Cyber Monday article to find out more.
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