Do your e-comm sales go down every time the temperature goes up?
You’re not alone. We think the magic temperature is 25 degrees + and suddenly our UK audiences throw down their devices and fire up the BBQ/head to a pub garden/get their mates over/quietly melt somewhere in the shade.
In a really hot week I can expect my phone screen time to go down by as much as 20%. Our regular patterns change when the mercury rises, and in warm weather e-comm brands can feel the bumps.
So, as an e-commerce retailer, what can you do if your Shopify sales going down as the mercury goes up?
1. Don’t panic. The UK’s unpredictable weather should ensure these are just blips. As a nation unaccustomed to long, hot summers we grasp the heat waves when they come, but typically the fun doesn’t last and our buying patterns resume. It’s not uncommon to see a spike in sales after a hot spell as people catch up on their lost shopping.
2. Email flows. If we’re shopping more while out and about, or likely to turn our attention elsewhere mid purchase (hello early evening mojito in the garden 😎), it’s important to make sure your abandon cart flows in Klaviyo are all in order and converting the distracted 🍹. These can be particularly powerful as buying patterns settle down again after a heatwave.
3. If you’ve hit a short blip, don’t panic and start changing campaigns drastically. By the time they come back out of learning, activity will have probably picked up again. Studies say that sunny Saturdays are the toughest for online businesses, so be particularly wary of overreacting after a balmy weekend.
4. Take exceptional weather into account when testing new campaign elements. If activity across your account has slowed up over a heatwave, maybe give any testing a bit longer to see its true performance.
5. If they don’t pick up, and campaigns continue to be sluggish, you’ll probably need to review your creative first. Prepping and banking new creative in the hot weather in case you need it later will mean you can make the changes more quickly if performance doesn’t bounce back.
6. Mobile first. The chances are that your online business converts more on mobile than on desktop, and your site is therefore already fully optimised for mobile. If that’s not the case, put some extra attention on making sure the customer experience is excellent on mobile, as many of us are less tethered to a desk in the warm weather. Pay special attention to over-zealous pop ups and slow load times.
7. If you’re concerned about stock hanging around over the summer months and want to incentivise shoppers when sales are slower consider free/reduced shipping, offers on bundles or volume discounts. Bumping up your first time buyers now will feed your funnel for cheaper returning customers. Many e-commerce brands invest heavily in new customer acquisition over late Q3 and Q4, but dropping a short offer in over the summer will win you some much cheaper new fans.
8. For longer term protection against erratic performance keep working on building your subscription/year round customers. Growing this loyal, reliable, and largely hands-off customer base is where e-comm businesses can really scale.
When the good weather comes in short bouts, enjoy it, and don’t sweat it if your audience does the same. If your campaigns are strong, they’ll be back 😎
If you’d like to book a call with us to review your campaign set up, we’re booking now 👇