There is no doubt that recent events have reshaped the landscape for retailers both online and in-store. No one foresaw a worldwide pandemic and 2020 will certainly be remembered as the COVID-19 year. As a company that builds ecommerce websites for retailers we have witnessed a shift in buying habits, the types of products that are being consumed and more importantly how we are buying. From personal experience, the 45 minutes wait to get into B&Q, the 30-minute queue and the less than friendly, panic tainted, customer service in most stores has left us with either the desire to purchase solely online for the foreseeable future or wait it out and spend our cash at a later date.
Being an optimist through, I believe that everything will pan out for the better, retail will be stronger, buying habits will still remain and facemasks may just stick around that little bit longer. So let’s not write 2020 off just yet. People will still get married, birthdays will still be welcome and key events will still be celebrated.
We’ve put together some important shopping dates to add to your calendar this year and next for those looking to buy and those looking to sell.
Shopping dates for 2020
22 July - 1 September - SCHOOL SUMMER HOLIDAYS
6 weeks of summer, and the perfect opportunity to appeal to the parents out there that need to entertain their children. Our client Squizzas has seen unprecedented growth in the last year selling games and tech as demand has increased rapidly. This increased traffic has been leveraged with new offers, bundle deals and speedy delivery, along with adding new and exciting product ranges to appeal to a wider audience. Over the initial pandemic period of April-June we witnessed almost 300% more traffic to most websites, including our own as many more people are working from home, with more time to shop online. With more people enjoying a “staycation” this year, take advantage of this new interest and engagement. Check your page content, update your titles and descriptions, cross link your pages and products, offer basket promotions and even post sales offers.
Throughout August - BACK TO SCHOOL
The start of a new academic year nearly always means the need to replace outgrown clothes and shoes. This year children are likely to look forward to the return to school more than ever and will be hankering after a new wardrobe and kitbags. And with kids going back to school, those who have been juggling home working and home schooling are also likely to start returning to their normal workplace. Another excuse for new wardrobe additions so why not add to your usual back to school promotions with some back to work offers. Make it about Mums and Dads as well as the kids!
26th October - 30th October - AUTUMN HALF TERM
The last holiday break before Christmas. Many flock to hot destinations before digging into the colder nights. This year maybe slightly different with government advising us to travel less, wear masks and keep our distance. This gives you a chance to keep people busy over this holiday with some great online offers. Products that entertain or provide comfort could be popular this year and gives you an excuse to contact your customers.
31st October - HALLOWEEN
As the dark nights draw in Halloween and Bonfire Night are a welcome event for many households. Parties, costumes, gatherings and bucket loads of sweets all add to the public excitement. This event doesn’t suit all retails but does give you prompt to update your website, create some clever artwork, show your fun side and tie in a few offers that suit the occasion.
27th - 30th November - BLACK FRIDAY / CYBER MONDAY WEEKEND
Black Friday has been an event celebrated by our friends in the USA and only adopted in the UK in recent years. Although it has a colourful history the term has now been adopted to provide a full weekend of crazy deals for consumers. The noise can get a bit much and competition can be fierce but keep it simple and let your offers do the talking. Give plenty of notice to your customers and increase interest by creating scarcity and limitation.
5th December - SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY
Congratulations to all of you who have continued to provide amazing service and support to your local communities throughout the pandemic. From pubs converting to local shops, new takeaway services, personal deliveries and live-streamed fitness classes there have been some great examples of both enterprise and adaptability. Let’s hope everyone remembers all who were there for them during these difficult times, but for those who may need a reminder, Small Business Saturday provides a good opportunity for some renewed marketing messages and offers to keep people shopping with you.
14th December - FREE SHIPPING DAY
The premise is simple, offer free shipping and a guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. Free Shipping day is great for those last minute purchases, panic buys, offers that will make Christmas that much better.
25th December - CHRISTMAS DAY
One of the biggest holidays of the year where every person will typically buy multiple gifts for family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. The Bank of England predicts each household spends an extra £800 during the Christmas period, with music and DVD’s being the most popular. Get in early with offers at the end of November and start of December. Spend a little on social ads to boost your audience and test some product offers. Send out a weekly email campaign and for local companies get some print advertising in place. 10,000 A5 Printed leaflets will cost you just £100 nowadays at companies like Printed.com. Let your customers know you are open for business. Offer late night shopping, or be creative with an advent calendar style offer where you promote a deal every day throughout December.
26th December - BOXING DAY
A day for sleeping off the food, tending to hangovers and watching all three extended cut editions of Lord of the Rings on DVD, there will be a large amount of people browsing phones, i-pads and laptops looking to spend their Christmas money, plan a News Years Day celebration, update the house, and get fit and healthy for the new year. Send a pre-scheduled emailer with apps like Mailchimp for that timely offer, switch over your website banners and marketing message to fresh new content post Christmas. Update your followers on social media, give people inspiration and ideas on how to use your products. The days following Boxing day is a great opportunity to boost your sales before the end of the year.
31st December - NEW YEAR’S EVE
A night for celebration the world over. Parties, cocktails, dress up and gifts are synonymous with New Year’s Eve. Keep your marketing active post Christmas and the run up to the new year. January means back to work and school so that bit of extra retail therapy works well at this time. Keep your message clear, your graphics and banners simple and eye catching and offer some products to really make the event sparkle.
UK BANK HOLIDAY DATES 2020 QUICK GUIDE
New Year’s Day - Wednesday 1 January
St Patrick’s Day - Tuesday 17 March
Good Friday - Friday 10 April
Easter Monday - Monday 13 April
Early May bank holiday - Friday 8 May
Spring bank holiday - Monday 25 May
Battle of the Boyne (substitute day) - Monday 13 July
Summer bank holiday - Monday 3 August (Scotland only)
Summer bank holiday - Monday 31 August (England, Wales and Northern Ireland only)
St Andrew’s Day - Monday 30 November (Scotland only)
Christmas Day - Friday 25 December
Boxing Day - Monday 28 December
UK IMPORTANT CALENDAR DATES 2020 QUICK GUIDE
Burns Night - Saturday 25th January
Chinese New Year - Saturday 25th January
Valentine’s Day - Friday 14th February
Shrove Tuesday - Tuesday 25th February
Ash Wednesday - Wednesday 26th February
St David’s Day - Sunday 1st March
Mothering Sunday - Sunday 22th March
Daylight saving time starts – Sunday 29th March
St George’s Day - Thursday 23th April
Ramadan start - Thursday 23th April
Eid al-Fitr - Saturday 23th May
Summer Solstice - Saturday 20th June
Father’s Day - Sunday 21th June
Eid al-Adha begins - Thursday 30th July
Islamic New Year - Wednesday 19th August
Rosh Hashanah - Friday 18th September
Yom Kippur - Sunday 27th September
Daylight saving time ends - Sunday 25th October
Halloween - Saturday 31st October
Guy Fawkes Night - Thursday 5th November
Remembrance Day - Wednesday 11th November
Diwali - Saturday 14th November
St Andrew’s Day - Monday 30th November
Hanukkah begins -Thursday 10th December
Winter Solstice - Monday 21th December
Shopping dates for 2021
14th February - VALENTINE’S DAY
The official international day of love. Same date every year and a day no sane person in a relationship dare forget! A perfect occasion to plan an email campaign, update your website banners and offer some discount codes to drive sales. Consider offering next day delivery for those panic buys. A perfect opportunity for Luxury brands and retailers offering romantic products, flowers and chocolates to offer some great deals. If you’re a hotel, restaurant or company offering experiences start some local social or print advertising in good time to get some bookings in early. Offer value, and limit availability to encourage early sales. This is also a great time to upsell, bundle deals or upgrade a purchase to increase average spend per customer.
14th March UK / 9th May USA - MOTHERS DAY
To all the great mums, nans, and grandmas out there that deserve a treat on mothering sunday. With such a rich history and meaning our modern day holiday celebrates the special people in our lives. With traditional gifts such as flowers, confectionary, wine, jewellery and meals out with the family marking the perfect day, it’s a great opportunity for retailers to increase their marketing and visibility. New website banners, social promotions, and email marketing will put your products in front of more people. Bear in mind your target market is everyone with a mum, grandmother or significant carer in their lives which pretty much means everyone.
4th April - EASTER WEEKEND
I hear Chocolate egg day is gaining traction over the religious meaning of this holiday but this only increases your reach to potential customers. This is a fun and engaging holiday for kids and adults and gives plenty of scope to add some colour and games to your website or shop. Offer an easter egg hunt on your website, hide some offers or clues to bigger discounts for instance. Promote sharing with family and friends to gain better deals which in turn will increase your reach and engagement online. A perfect time for competitions and charity events to increase your visibility and give back to the community.
May - August - WEDDING SEASON
The wedding season is typically in the summer months for better chance of good weather. Google searches for Wedding Gifts generally peaks around August as you can see from the Google Trends report below.
This is a great season for Engagement rings, wedding jewellery, bridesmaids gifts, wedding favours, wedding dresses, cakes and events. The list goes on. Keep your marketing fresh, your products easy to understand and informative and take plenty of pictures and video to really show them off. Work hard on your Google Business Reviews to create social proof and engage with your followers as much as possible.
20th June - FATHERS DAY
Yay to all the fathers, dads, stepdads, grandads and even the mums that out dad the dads. A perfect date to appeal to a wide audience. Online shopping is likely to increase over this time so be there to pick up the additional interest with promos, offers and deals that a customer can’t refuse. Offer quick delivery, personalisation and gift wrapping to make you stand out from your competitors.
UK BANK HOLIDAY DATES 2021 QUICK GUIDE
New Year’s Day - Friday 1st January
St Patrick’s Day - Wednesday 17th March
Good Friday - Friday 2nd April
Easter Monday - Monday 5th April
Early May bank holiday - Monday 3rd May
Spring bank holiday - Monday 31st May
Battle of the Boyne - Monday 12th July
Summer bank holiday - Monday 2nd August (Scotland only)
Summer bank holiday - Monday 30th August (England, Wales and Northern Ireland only)
St Andrew’s Day - Monday 30th November (Scotland only)
Christmas Day - Monday 27th December (Substitute day)
Boxing Day - Tuesday 28th December (Substitute day)
UK IMPORTANT CALENDAR DATES 2021 QUICK GUIDE
Burns Night - Monday 25th January
Chinese New Year - Friday 12th February
Valentine’s Day - Sunday 14th February
Shrove Tuesday - Tuesday 16th February
Ash Wednesday - Wednesday 17th February
St David’s Day - Monday 1st March
Mothering Sunday - Sunday 14th March
Daylight saving time starts – Sunday 28th March
St George’s Day - Friday 23rd April
Ramadan start - Monday 12th April
Eid al-Fitr - Wednesday 12th May
Summer Solstice - Monday 21st June
Father’s Day - Sunday 20th June
Eid al-Adha begins - Monday 19th July
Islamic New Year - Monday 9th August
Rosh Hashanah - Monday 6th September
Yom Kippur - Wednesday 15th September
Daylight saving time ends - Sunday 31st October
Halloween - Sunday 31st October
Guy Fawkes Night - Friday 5th November
Remembrance Day - Thursday 11th November
Diwali - Sunday 4th November
St Andrew’s Day - Tuesday 30th November
Hanukkah begins - Sunday 28th November
Winter Solstice - Tuesday 21st December
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