E-Commerce Visual Merchandising for Christmas: 6 Ways To Jazz Up Your Shopping Experience

When it comes to Christmas shopping, the experience is everything!

While retail has struggled to deliver the results that e-commerce has been able to achieve, the beautiful lights and window displays decked in seasonal colors have almost always made up for it. During Christmas especially, these displays are transformed to encapsulate the spirit of the holiday, helping shoppers visualize the products they want to buy.

This is visual merchandising at work — a marketing tactic used to display and optimize products (and the brand) in a visually appealing way to highlight them and motivate shoppers. Think, mannequin displays in malls that feature the best products to reel you in to buy.

And it’s exactly what your online store needs. Visual merchandising, when done right, can deliver immersive customer experiences. And to be honest — it’s not as tricky as it seems!

We analyzed how a few well-known e-commerce brands transform their store experience for Christmas and compiled a few ideas for you.

Here are 6 ways to delight customers in your e-commerce store this holiday season.

6 E-Commerce Visual Merchandising Ideas for Christmas to Delight Customers

1. Add some festive spirit to your storefront banner!

The first thing that shoppers see on your store is the banner. Many brands transform this banner to reflect the Christmas spirit, featuring their Christmas collection, sharing their special offer or discount, or just using Christmas-themed colors and design assets to deliver a festive experience.

Emma Bridgewater, a UK-based pottery brand, has transformed its storefront to display its Christmas collection and guide store visitors to shop for the holiday.

Here’s why it works:

• Their exclusive Christmas collection is placed to excite new and returning customers.

• The banner features products that clearly drive the spirit of the holiday in look and feel.

• The CTA strategically guides shoppers to browse the complete collection.

2. Curate a Christmas or gifting collection

Make Christmas shopping simple.

Don’t expect your shoppers to browse through your entire catalog and find products that are perfect for Christmas. Help them visualize how the products would look and feel, whether it’s to decor the house or gift someone.

Many merchants set up dedicated gifting collections like ‘Gifts for Her’ and ‘Gifts for Him’ to help shoppers find the right items for their loved ones. Such gifting collections are evergreen, perfect for any occasion.

However, you can also go niche and set up Christmas collections, with products that fit the theme of the holiday or just items that your shoppers would be eager to own.

Magnolia Market set up collections with different Christmas decorations early on, displaying them on their storefront.

You don’t have to sell ornaments and products that are obviously Christmas-themed to set up such a collection. You can also curate a collection with items that shoppers would want to indulge in during this time. Take, for instance, H&M’s home collection.

3. Deliver convenience with gift wrapping options

Thanks to social distancing norms, fewer people will be gathering and exchanging gifts this year, making gift-giving a long-distance ritual.

Win shoppers for the long-haul by anticipating these newer needs.

Offer gift wrapping to make it easier for shoppers to send products straight from your e-commerce store to their loved ones.

Many merchants even let shoppers choose from a variety of 2 to 3 wrapping paper designs to customize how they want their gifts to look.

4. Personalize store purchases with heartfelt notes

Allow shoppers to share a personalized note or gift message with their order during checkout, to give their shopping a warmer, seasonal touch.

Many of us attach a short note to gifts, even when hand-delivering them. Giving your shoppers the option to add a personalized note can help them hold onto the usual traditions of holiday gift-giving and enrich their shopping experience.

Many e-commerce brands have tried, tested, and loved this personalization element!

When shopping at Magnolia Market, shoppers can add gift messages on the cart page.

5. Simplify navigation to your ‘Gifting’ or ‘Christmas’ collections

E-commerce works wonders when the right products are just a click away.

Add your Christmas collection to the navigation menu for easier access, so that shoppers can find products, personalize them and checkout in one seamless flow.

Here are 3 tips to remember while structuring your new navigation menu:

• If you have multiple product collections for Christmas, add them all under a larger menu category called ‘Christmas’ (check the below example).

• Customize the color of the ‘Christmas’ menu to make it stand out and naturally draw your shoppers’ attention to it.

• If the dropdown menu looks bare and lifeless, add a preview of one of the best items from your Christmas collection.

6. Promise honest and accurate delivery timelines

Set up an announcement bar or a floating widget to let shoppers know how long you’ll take to deliver and inform them about the last date to get their Christmas orders on time.

Ensure that this announcement bar or widget stands out against the rest of your storefront and is noticeable almost immediately. Brownie points for making it Christmas-themed!

This can set realistic expectations for your shoppers, getting them to plan their Christmas shopping and place orders in advance.

Pro-tip: Few brands provide same-day or next-day delivery during the holiday. If you’ve set up such instant delivery, promote it on your storefront as well as within marketing channels to get more customers through the door.

You’ll also benefit from adding a delivery calculator to help shoppers see estimated delivery times for their order and relieve some post-purchase anxiety over when exactly their order would arrive.

Is your business Christmas ready?

Visual merchandising is a powerful way to attract and guide shoppers to buy from your e-commerce store. We hope this guide gave you a few ideas on how you can present your virtual storefront better during this holiday season.

What are your favorite festive season hacks? Share your ideas in the comments below.