Virtually everyone shipped something this holiday season, and the folks over at Security Scale did a nice bit of research that provides some holiday shopping insights many businesses could put to good use.
Here’s a quick look at some of the numbers.
Direct Shipping Could do Better
51% of people surveyed bought presents online and had them shipped to themselves, and handled their own re-shipping to recipients, while only 25% ordered presents and had them shipped directly. While some consumers and holiday gift-givers will always want the chance to be hands-on with their presents, there’s a major opportunity to be had in converting more shoppers to direct shippers.
Gift wrapping, personalized messaging, and gift cards are great added-value offers that can entice more buyers and boost your bottom line. Make direct shipping look as good as the repackaging your customers are doing for themselves, and you just might find yourself becoming a holiday hotspot.
Damaged Packages aren’t a Major Concern
With only 22% of survey respondents saying they’d ever received a package that was damaged beyond repair, and 64% saying they’ve never received a package that was damaged at all, consumers aren’t too worried about their gifts arriving in poor condition—no matter where they’re scheduled to arrive.
This means there’s virtually no fear-based barrier when it comes to customers shipping products directly to gift recipients. As long as you can promise a personalized and festive look (and price confidentiality, of course), you should have a relatively easy time upselling many of your customers to direct shipping during the next holiday season.
You Can Offer Most Customers Lower Shipping Costs
While gift wrapping might cost a little extra, this survey suggests you can probably save most of your customers when it comes to the direct expense of shipping the gifts they buy to the recipients. Only 10% of respondents have postal scales at home, which means many will be overpaying to have their items shipped.
With your products’ dimensions entered into a readable database—as they should be—you can set up your shopping cart to automatically calculate the exact shipping cost based on the item(s) they’ve purchased and the place(s) they’re being shipped to.
Removing the guesswork and saving your customers some dough gives you a great added selling point for your direct shipping upsell.
Every Insight is a Marketing Opportunity
Research like this proves that even the most mundane details can be used to find new opportunities with your target customers. Stay tuned to this blog for other insights, and see how else Fanatics Media can help you take your online business to the next level.
