How to boost your sales at the start of the year

January and February are, for many stores and retail sectors, months of low activity, despite the sales events and the efforts of merchants. December, often the most profitable month of the year, is when many people are in their most “spendthrift” mode, with gifts and more. The start of the following year, by contrast, can be a dip after the peak.

However, strong marketing can boost a promising start to 2025, strengthen your relationship with your customers, and allow you to enter the new year with vigor while your competitors are still in the holiday “slumber”.

It is important to know the 3 main reasons for sales drops at the start of the year:

• After the Christmas rush, consumers want to spend less time shopping and less money.
• People are busier with other things (for example, New Year commitments).
• Having recently received or bought more things than usual, there is less interest in new goods.

Abandoned shopping carts are frowned upon by online sellers, but they are too important to ignore. In any case, they represent an opportunity and a sign of interest.

There is nothing more natural than abandoned purchases amid the decisions and confusion of December. Or perhaps the money, amid gifts for family and friends, did not stretch to cover everything, or the delivery price was a deterrent (but it doesn't have to be – take a look at the our attractive rates, which will allow you to present more attractive prices).

The solution is logical: automated reminder messages about the abandoned cart, which remind the customer of the purchase they gave up on, further away from the holiday rush and at a time when they have already received their January salary.

A sales strategy that has become increasingly important in a wide range of contexts is increasing the value of orders through tactics such as upselling (which consists of recommending a higher-end product) or cross-selling (which is suggesting a related or complementary product).

Start-of-year sales are no exception, and you should not miss the opportunity to promote larger orders, which may also allow you, for example, to offer free shipping.

To increase the effectiveness of this approach, try to personalize recommendations as much as possible, using the available information and the customer's history.

A poster, physical or virtual, announcing “50% discounts!” seems like an enticing offer, but the reality is that it is just a drop in the ocean. Competition is intense, and a discount event may not be the most effective way to stand out, however direct it may be.

More original ideas, which can attract attention, are offering a discount of “x” euros on the next purchase to those who share your posts on social media during the week, organizing a contest and offering a prize to the winner, etc. Of course, these ideas are an addition that does not eliminate the usefulness of more conventional promotions.

Of course, your most loyal customers have to be the first consideration, not only during sales, but on all occasions, and they are the main source of income during periods of lower activity.

Distribute information through email messages and social media posts. Ideally, messages with personalized treatment adapted to each person's preferences and history.

The start of a new year is an opportunity to rethink approaches and, for those who run an online business, few things are more important than logistics.

On the other hand, for those who have a physical store, one of the most fruitful ideas is to offer new products or services, such as creating an online store and enabling customers to buy over the internet.

The shipping of parcels with InPost is perfectly designed so that you can offer your customers a fast, sustainable and affordable delivery service, the perfect option for the competitive modern world. Visit our website to discover more about everything InPost can offer your business.

And happy new year!