That is true in most people\u2019s work lives, and it is also true across the retail sector. After Christmas, sales tumble, and many brands see their ad metrics tick down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So you shouldn\u2019t even bother marketing during dead week, right? Wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not all is wasted the week after Christmas. Here\u2019s how brands and agencies should be approaching the end-of-year slowdown\u2014and here is the marketing and the analysis they should do to set themselves up for success in the new year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Know when to panic over low sales <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThe week after Christmas can be stressful because, while you know your sales will go down, it\u2019s hard to figure out how much<\/em> of a drop is a cause for concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIs a 10% week-to-week drop in overall sales a bad sign? Or is that par for the course with dead week? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are a couple simple ways to answer this question. The first is to examine industry-wide benchmarks. To help, Intentwise pulled our own data on this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conversion rates were 13.4% for the week ending on December 23. The following week, however, conversions fell to 11.03%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Conversion](\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe second solution is to compile your own sales and advertising data during the same week last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019ve saved your historical data, either by piping it into a data warehouse or by working with a partner like Intentwise that can do it for you, that comparison is easy to make. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you didn\u2019t save your historical data, you might be out of luck\u2014but that\u2019s all the more reason to start working with us today so you can run these comparisons next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sales don\u2019t stop during dead week<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThough overall retail sales go way down at the end of the year and into January, that doesn\u2019t mean you should freeze all of your marketing activities after Christmas ends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Especially if you sell in certain categories, dead week isn\u2019t the time to halt your ad campaigns\u2014not by any stretch. Here\u2019s why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prepare for the gift card rush<\/strong>. Gift cards are one of the most popular holiday gifts around, and dead week sees a big spike in gift card redemption rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\nMany shoppers do start spending those gift cards right away\u2014especially younger shoppers. According to one study, as much as 27%<\/a> of holiday shoppers start spending their gift card money in the week after Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\nThat\u2019s spending money you want to harness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Run an inventory analysis.<\/strong> The holidays don\u2019t always turn out how you expect. You may have allocated a ton of inventory to Amazon for a product that didn\u2019t sell quite as much as you wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\nMeanwhile, a product you didn\u2019t think would be so hot might have sold through nearly all of its stock already. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dead week is the time to analyze your products based on inventory levels. If you have a product that has far too much inventory, for instance, it might be worth running a deal on it now in order to sell through your inventory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Focus on New Year\u2019s resolutions<\/strong>. While dead week is going to represent a weak sales period for brands across most categories, some brands should actually ramp up their ad spend right about now. <\/p>\n\n\n\nSpecifically, think of New Year\u2019s resolutions: If your product lends itself well to New Year\u2019s resolutions, then you want to start promoting it more heavily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
That is true for brands in the health, wellness, and fitness categories. Vitamin brands, supplements brands, and brands that make exercise apparel or equipment should be preparing to optimize their marketing right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Start converting subscribers<\/strong>. The end of the year tends to be the time that shoppers manage their subscriptions. They cancel their out-of-use subscriptions, and then they purchase new ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\nFor your shoppers who seem close to signing up for Subscribe & Save with one of your products, this is the best time of year to convert them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we\u2019ve discussed before<\/a>, Amazon Marketing Cloud makes it easy to reach potential subscribers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\nIn AMC, you can create audiences of people who\u2019ve, say, bought from you 2x but have yet to subscribe. Then push that audience to DSP, and run ads to that group promising a new year discount if they SnS now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep a wary eye on returns <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAs the sales frenzy from earlier in December draws to close, you should also keep an eye on your returns. These numbers will inevitably tick up, and you won\u2019t know the full scope of the damage until the end of January. Amazon allows customers to return items purchased during the holiday season, through January 31st, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tracking returns at this stage can be a little agonizing: If you sell on Amazon, there\u2019s not a lot you can do about limiting returns once you\u2019ve already sold through your inventory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
But if you have a lot of returns, you should investigate why in the new year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\nIt\u2019s good to have some sense of how your return rate is trending. For what it\u2019s worth, it\u2019s easy to build a refreshable view of your product returns, broken out by reason for return, in Intentwise Analytics Cloud<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Is a 10% week-to-week drop in overall sales a bad sign? Or is that par for the course with dead week? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are a couple simple ways to answer this question. The first is to examine industry-wide benchmarks. To help, Intentwise pulled our own data on this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conversion rates were 13.4% for the week ending on December 23. The following week, however, conversions fell to 11.03%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second solution is to compile your own sales and advertising data during the same week last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019ve saved your historical data, either by piping it into a data warehouse or by working with a partner like Intentwise that can do it for you, that comparison is easy to make. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you didn\u2019t save your historical data, you might be out of luck\u2014but that\u2019s all the more reason to start working with us today so you can run these comparisons next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though overall retail sales go way down at the end of the year and into January, that doesn\u2019t mean you should freeze all of your marketing activities after Christmas ends. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Especially if you sell in certain categories, dead week isn\u2019t the time to halt your ad campaigns\u2014not by any stretch. Here\u2019s why. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Prepare for the gift card rush<\/strong>. Gift cards are one of the most popular holiday gifts around, and dead week sees a big spike in gift card redemption rates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Many shoppers do start spending those gift cards right away\u2014especially younger shoppers. According to one study, as much as 27%<\/a> of holiday shoppers start spending their gift card money in the week after Christmas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s spending money you want to harness. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Run an inventory analysis.<\/strong> The holidays don\u2019t always turn out how you expect. You may have allocated a ton of inventory to Amazon for a product that didn\u2019t sell quite as much as you wanted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, a product you didn\u2019t think would be so hot might have sold through nearly all of its stock already. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Dead week is the time to analyze your products based on inventory levels. If you have a product that has far too much inventory, for instance, it might be worth running a deal on it now in order to sell through your inventory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Focus on New Year\u2019s resolutions<\/strong>. While dead week is going to represent a weak sales period for brands across most categories, some brands should actually ramp up their ad spend right about now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Specifically, think of New Year\u2019s resolutions: If your product lends itself well to New Year\u2019s resolutions, then you want to start promoting it more heavily. <\/p>\n\n\n\n That is true for brands in the health, wellness, and fitness categories. Vitamin brands, supplements brands, and brands that make exercise apparel or equipment should be preparing to optimize their marketing right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Start converting subscribers<\/strong>. The end of the year tends to be the time that shoppers manage their subscriptions. They cancel their out-of-use subscriptions, and then they purchase new ones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n For your shoppers who seem close to signing up for Subscribe & Save with one of your products, this is the best time of year to convert them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we\u2019ve discussed before<\/a>, Amazon Marketing Cloud makes it easy to reach potential subscribers.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n In AMC, you can create audiences of people who\u2019ve, say, bought from you 2x but have yet to subscribe. Then push that audience to DSP, and run ads to that group promising a new year discount if they SnS now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As the sales frenzy from earlier in December draws to close, you should also keep an eye on your returns. These numbers will inevitably tick up, and you won\u2019t know the full scope of the damage until the end of January. Amazon allows customers to return items purchased during the holiday season, through January 31st, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tracking returns at this stage can be a little agonizing: If you sell on Amazon, there\u2019s not a lot you can do about limiting returns once you\u2019ve already sold through your inventory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But if you have a lot of returns, you should investigate why in the new year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s good to have some sense of how your return rate is trending. For what it\u2019s worth, it\u2019s easy to build a refreshable view of your product returns, broken out by reason for return, in Intentwise Analytics Cloud<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Conversion](\"https:\/\/lh7-us.googleusercontent.com\/vtUN_RsT4lPeYy1O23c1vPiqPRojleINZ2QKW7ltmJC1bEXEYt3KO9zjbxntRO031X22IGdqcvMNmrEaUysiBP-4e57ro0jB14NAoRtPoBjzxgcg1FNoATsNlcNy2ujsODtJXORGAIkC7k-jw1LEdRM\")
Sales don\u2019t stop during dead week<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Keep a wary eye on returns <\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Amazon](\"https:\/\/lh7-us.googleusercontent.com\/D-MlxcOvyKZhElX4hJgQKC4-rkpCPG4UzqeqODxTqV7TquyT8LJ0vj4BShsm8JrDs_Oue-7qFj7aM78Qzo6aZJI8fReo0A1OxEvnDGl3eXirtxVzmWaIlAs_hpPMp8r0KzjBrD-FxWVnq_YWtzrEfP0\")