Three Techniques to Plan A A hit Product Release (Unfastened 2020 Vacation Calendar)

The holiday rush is real

String lights have to be put up, endless time will be spent in food prep and gifts have to be researched, found and bought. Even your inbox starts filling up with holiday emails almost a month before the actual festival. There is a lot to do and a short time to do it in.  

The holiday rush is, indeed, real. 

In the USA alone, online sales during the holiday season are projected to be somewhere in the vicinity of 144$-149$ billion.

Let your product soar this holiday season

‘Holiday Offer – 50% Off’ and other such offers are a common sight when you go about your day. Everyone from hotels to hypermarkets is running a sale. Even though it can be overwhelming, it creates a sense of urgency. Consumers have come to understand that such offers will not appear after the holiday’s over. Nor do they want to compromise on the quality of products and will wait till their preferred brands put up holiday sale prices. 

Plus, that new purchase during the holidays makes it easy to relate. “Oh, we got the car two years ago at Diwali’ or ‘New Year, new laptop’. 

Now that we’ve established how the holiday season holds value for customers, let’s understand how you can capitalise on it.  

1. In with the new

New products garner attention. For example, a new smartphone model generates curiosity. It has novelty and improved features than older versions. 

Yet, it’s not conducive to launch new products during the holiday season. Instead, reveal the product and market it extensively to coincide with the holiday season. It helps customers to research the product and compare it with your competitors. 

So if you are looking to target the Christmas sale, it’s better to introduce your product a month or two before. Which means that your product needs to be distribution-ready much earlier. In essence, you should start conceptualizing your product at least six months in advance. 

Product launches require a great amount of forethought and extensive planning. Your teams need to be streamlined, the product has to be designed with its packaging, marketing strategies have to be aligned, and your product has to be tested. You can kick start the process by looking at the 2020 holiday calendar and know when/how your product can be launched.     

2. It’s always a holiday, somewhere 

Global brands often have a presence in multiple countries. They need to mesh their product with the target audience’s tastes and align with the culture. One wrong step can go far in incurring great losses and a strike against the brand’s reputation. However, most brands are doing it right. 

For instance, in India, Amazon rolls out the Great Indian Festival just before Diwali. People anticipate this annual online event by adding products to their carts prior to the start of the sale. 

In the USA, Black Friday and Cyber Monday are cited as two of the world’s biggest annual shopping days. The two days have been strategically positioned between Thanksgiving and Christmas. While Black Friday focuses on discounted products in brick-and-mortar stores, Cyber Monday encourages people to shop online. In 2018, according to reports Cyber Monday recorded $7.9 Billion worth of sales.         

3. Perks & more perks 

As mentioned before, discounts are the biggest reason why the holiday season is here to stay. Other than that, brands offer more perks that are convenient for their customers.

In a recent report, while shopping online, 85% of customers preferred free delivery over fast delivery. During the holiday season, Amazon also provides a free gift wrapping option so that the products arrive already wrapped.      

Gift cards with purchases, multiple payment methods, offers on certain payment modes and loyalty programs are some types of perks that give customers more reasons to shop. 

Wrapping Up

Last-minute shopping might be a thing. But don’t leave your product planning until the end moment. It’s never too early to begin strategizing your product concepts (with a little help from this 2020 holiday calendar) so that you are ahead of the competition. It gives you more time to finalize the processes and access to the early birds (customers) who don’t leave it to the day before to shop for something festive.