The festive season is upon us, and while Canadians plan to spend about 8% more this year as compared to last, 90% are still sticking to a tight budget and seeking out deals in the face of ongoing inflation, according to the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) X Leger Shopping Survey 2024.The RCC X Leger survey results and the 2024 Holiday Retail Outlook survey from Deloitte Canada show that Canadian consumers, on average, are predicted to spend between $972 and $1,478 this holiday season.
With these survey results in mind, standing out from the crowd with enticing offers, packages, and discounts may help your business attract some of the consumer spending that is set to take place. Here are three tips to consider when putting together this year's holiday packages and promotions.
1. Know Your Audience
Image credit: Danika Lee Photography
One key element for a successful package or promotion is knowing the offer's target market. Is this going to be available to anybody who visits Kelowna? Or simply to residents? Or maybe only those who are visiting for business reasons? The same offer or package will not resonate with every segment of consumer, so you'll want to modify what's included to appeal to your various target markets.
Conducting market research is one way to find out what your customers want. This doesn't have to be an onerous or costly process. Reach out to some of your repeat customers. Run a poll on social media to determine what value-added experiences or offerings might entice your audience to book or buy. The better you know your current and prospective customers, the better you'll be able to target your offers to what they want.
2. Stand Out From the Crowd
Sandhill Wines. Image credit: Shawn Talbot Photography
The more exciting, enticing, or exclusive the offer, the more exposure it will get, which can lead to improved results. Check out what others in your sector are offering to look for ways you can stand out. Look for current offers from complementary products or services and consider how you might be able to collaborate with another local business to create an even more exciting offering.
Remember, enticing doesn't always have to mean a more considerable discount—adding unique and exclusive experiences can have a significant impact. Depending on your audience and what you wish to achieve, there are different ways to garner consumers' attention. Perhaps your offer is only available for the first 50 customers, or it's an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience with limited capacity. Or, maybe it's an add-on with purchase (everyone loves a freebie!). Make sure the experiences you want to include in your offers are unique and not simply an offering you have all the time.
3. Establish Goals and Track Success
Image credit: Ken Hagen
Another important consideration that will help you create a successful holiday promotion is understanding your goals and what you hope to achieve. If you sell a physical product online, for example, perhaps you want to decrease your shopping cart abandonment rate—Shopify notes that discounts can make shoppers happier and less likely to abandon their online carts.
What other goals might you be looking to achieve? Do you want to acquire new customers? Increase overall sales? Earn repeat customers? Move inventory you haven't sold? These will be specific to your business, so you want to be clear about the outcome you're looking for so you can build your offer to achieve your goals. You can build offers and packages into your overall strategy so that it's not just giving out a discount but helping you reach the overall goals for your business.
Once you've wrapped up your promotion, you can measure its success in achieving your goals—if you missed the mark, take some time to consider what was missing and then look for ways to tailor future promotions to better connect with your customers. Without taking the time to evaluate the success of your offers, you may repeat mistakes or miss out on sales or bookings in future promotions.
Creating remarkable experiences or unique offers that appeal to your customers can help you achieve your goals, stand out from the crowd, create repeat customers, and further word-of-mouth marketing when satisfied customers recommend you to others.
Tourism Kelowna offers various avenues for its members to feature offers, packages, and discounts, such as our website's Packages & Promotions page and our mobile passport programs. Different offers can help increase average order spend, engage first-time buyers, and drive direct traffic to your business.
If you have questions about promoting your packages and promotions or about our passport programs, contact Carla Bechard at carla@tourismkelowna.com or (250) 861-1515 ext. 204.
