Believe it or not, we’re already in the thick of another holiday shopping season. With the pandemic ongoing, supply chain delays, and as many holiday shoppers as ever, now’s as good a time as any to strategize for the months ahead!
At BookNet, we’re here to support your bookstore through the holiday season and beyond — from helping you analyze your sales and identify opportunities for your store with SalesData, or making catalogue browsing and ordering easier with CataList.
But enough about us.
Here are three essential tips to boost your holiday shopping in 2021!
Tip 1: Welcome holiday shoppers online and in-store
As pandemic restrictions lessen in many places across the country, Canadians are returning to in-store shopping. During the first half of 2021, 39% of Canadians visited a bookstore online and 24% of Canadians visited a bookstore in-person.
This is expected to continue throughout the holiday season. As of June 2021, 58% of US holiday shoppers will shop online more this season than in previous years and 86% of US shoppers will shop in-store this holiday season.
Tip 2: Make sure holiday shoppers can find your store
An online presence has become essential to being discoverable by shoppers during the pandemic – 81% of consumers worldwide discovered new brands online during COVID-19.
This doesn’t exclude book buyers. In the first half of 2021, 50% of Canadian book buyers browsed for books on a store’s website, 24% by search engine, and 19% in-store.
Apart from websites, social media is another powerful tool to attract holiday shoppers. It’s estimated that 26% of US shoppers plan to use social media to assist them in their holiday shopping. For Canadian readers, 22% discover books on social media.
Tip 3: Be ready for holiday shoppers earlier than ever
Being ready in advance is especially important lately as supply chain delays worsen, but it’s not unprecedented during the pandemic. In 2020, Canadian holiday shoppers started buying books in the first half of November — a week or two earlier than usual.
This is is another trend we’re likely to see continued. More than half of US holiday shoppers will shop earlier to avoid an item being out of stock (59%) — so much so that by June 2021, 31% of US shoppers had already started their 2021 holiday shopping.
One last tip for the road — if you’re making a list, don’t forget to check it twice!
The BISAC to Thema translator has been updated.