New Study from Constant Contact Shows How Heavily Small Businesses Rely on Holiday Sales to Meet Yearly Revenue Goals

Findings additionally point out most customers don’t notice the impression of vacation spending at SMBs

WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 1, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — As we speak, Constant Contact, a digital advertising and marketing and automation platform that has helped hundreds of thousands of small companies and nonprofits globally, issued a particular vacation version of its Small Business Now report. The research evaluates how crucial the ultimate three months of the 12 months are to the monetary success of small companies (SMBs), in addition to the worth of client vacation spending and the ways small companies are utilizing to drive gross sales.

Fixed Contact’s research signifies that the vacation season is extra important to small companies than most customers notice. Half of SMBs say vacation gross sales account for at the least 25 p.c of their annual income, however solely one-third of shoppers notice the substantial impression their seasonal spending has on these companies. The stakes are even greater for SMBs within the retail trade, as they’re twice as prone to depend on the vacation interval for at the least 50 p.c of their annual income. This disconnect underscores the significance of forging sturdy buyer relationships, and it presents a possibility for SMBs to raised talk the significance of buying small through the vacation season.

“The vacation interval is an important time of 12 months for small companies as they work additional time to draw new prospects, hit income objectives and plan for the 12 months forward,” mentioned Laura Goldberg, chief advertising and marketing officer at Fixed Contact. “Our newest Small Enterprise Now report quantifies the impression vacation buying has on small companies, and it additionally reveals alternatives the place they will tweak their advertising and marketing methods to activate This fall prospects within the new 12 months. Fixed Contact is a trusted companion to small companies around the globe, and we’ll proceed to gas their success with highly effective advertising and marketing instruments to assist them ship extra partaking content material, meet year-end targets, and switch vacation customers into repeat prospects.”

The stress is on for small companies through the vacation season:

Small companies rely closely on fourth quarter gross sales to fulfill income objectives for the 12 months, particularly these within the retail sector.

• Half (50 p.c) of all small companies get greater than 25 p.c of their annual gross sales within the vacation season.
• 75 p.c of retail SMBs say they rely closely on vacation prospects, and 73 p.c attribute multiple quarter of their annual gross sales to the vacation interval.
• 58 p.c of retail SMBs say that vacation prospects are “extraordinarily essential” to the general success of their enterprise.

Most shoppers don’t notice the impression their vacation spending has on SMBs:

Small companies say buyer help performs an important function of their success, but shoppers could also be undervaluing the impression of their vacation buying.

• Supporting small companies and their communities is the primary purpose why shoppers select to go to or purchase from an SMB.
• Nonetheless, solely one-third (33 p.c) of shoppers really feel that visiting or buying through the holidays makes a big impression on an SMB’s livelihood.
• The highest feelings felt by small companies after a buyer visits or buys through the vacation season are grateful (78%), comfortable (69%), and hopeful (37%).

The vacation season is a time for development:

Attracting new prospects is the one largest objective for many small companies as they enter the ultimate months of the 12 months, and customers are open to being courted.

• The highest objectives for SMBs heading into the vacation season are discovering new prospects (63 p.c), retaining present prospects (52 p.c), and planning for subsequent 12 months (45 p.c).
• 84 p.c of shoppers surveyed are prone to go to a small enterprise they’ve by no means bought from this vacation season.
• 87 p.c of shoppers say they’re extra prone to return to a small enterprise sooner or later after visiting/shopping for through the holidays.
• Personalised emails and texts (52 p.c), social media advertisements (42 p.c), and gross sales or reductions (40 p.c) are the most well-liked advertising and marketing ways SMBs use to develop their buyer base through the vacation season.

New 12 months, new alternatives:

Most small companies would not have an efficient advertising and marketing technique to nurture, retain and convert their vacation prospects within the new 12 months, and it might be holding again their development.

• 93 p.c of SMBs agree that retaining new vacation prospects into the next 12 months is essential, however simply 18 p.c really feel their technique is very efficient, and 14 p.c haven’t any retention technique in any respect.
• 81 p.c of shoppers are extra open to receiving emails or texts from a small enterprise after visiting or shopping for from them through the holidays, however lower than half (49 p.c) obtain an e mail after making a purchase order.
• 27 p.c of shoppers say that after they go to or purchase from a small enterprise for the primary time, they by no means hear from the enterprise once more.

Study extra concerning the findings from the vacation version of Fixed Contact’s Small Enterprise Now report here.

Examine Methodology:

Fixed Contact’s research analyzes insights from 500 small enterprise decision-makers in the USA on the Director+ stage, and 500 U.S. shoppers aged 18+. For the needs of this research, “the vacation season” is outlined as falling inside the usual This fall interval of October-December. All statistics are consultant of their related demographics. The survey was carried out by Ascend2 in September 2023.

About Fixed Contact

Constant Contact delivers every thing small companies and nonprofits must construct, develop and succeed. With highly effective on-line advertising and marketing instruments, contact administration and gross sales options, and revolutionary AI capabilities, Fixed Contact makes it simple to draw the appropriate folks, have interaction extra prospects, shut extra offers and develop.

SOURCE Fixed Contact