Christmas Marketing Tips for Independent Grocers

‘Tis the season to be jolly, and nothing says Christmas more than a festive spread on the table. It’s a wonderful time of year and shoppers love the opportunity to splurge on something a little special. Seasonal spending is up and last year saw holiday retail spending reach over a trillion dollars, making up for average spending of $1,536 per person in the US across the Christmas period. 

Marketing campaigns that combine in-store and online promotions help businesses capture this seasonal increase in demand for groceries. Independent grocers are well placed to offer novelty and niche products alongside a tailored customer experience for a jolly holiday shopping season. Choice variety, one-off bargains, and the ability to easily reserve items early are all part of the quality and stress-free shopping experience independent grocers can deploy to compete with larger supermarket chains this holiday season. 

With that in mind, here are Local Express’ best Christmas marketing tips for independent grocers in 2021. 

Best Bargain Buys!

An estimated 22 million turkeys are used in Christmas dinners across the USA each year and, especially following a Thanksgiving more expensive than average, grocers can appeal to local bargain hunters with discounts on holiday staples. A bargain never goes out of style, so eye-catching promotions such as a coupon for spending over a certain amount, or free side item giveaways all help shoppers feel they are getting the most out of their money. 

Rewarding loyalty at Christmas can encourage customers to return all year. If your store has a rewards program, the end of the year is a great chance for customers to redeem points on special holiday items. 

Set Up a Holiday Competition 

Winning a holiday gift basket can be an excellent way to unite your online and in-store marketing campaigns. Creating original online content such as a seasonal recipe or surprising product use can be a fantastic way to generate interest and even potentially go viral with your competition – just like feta cheese did on TikTok in the summer of 2021. From this online engagement, you can then direct users to your desired outcome, whether that’s a digital point of purchase or a sign-up page for your store newsletter.

Get going as early as possible and think up a juicy prize early. You can then use the whole of the seasonal period as an opportunity to promote featured products in the hamper. Holiday competitions are a great way to gather customer data and newsletter sign-ups for continued seasonal and personalized promotions all year round as a tried and tested technique to increase customer loyalty.

Offer Holiday Meal Sets

Create a core holiday meal set and then scale and add various trimmings accordingly to make sure you cater to all price ranges. If possible, go one step further and offer full recipe sets with pre-prepared vegetables and specialized seasoning. Curating specialized tastes and flavors from traditional turkey to more experimental dishes and offering vegan and free-from options are ways independent grocers can appeal to a wide range of tastes. 

Setting pre-order dates and requesting a deposit upfront means stores can track orders and better manage their inventories to reduce waste. Meal sets could even be upsold online or via in-store kiosks when customers search for particular items, which could then also be easily customized according to their preferences. 

Offer Gift Wrapping And Delivery 

As an independent grocer, you should always be looking for a way to give your customers that little bit more than what retail giants can offer them. Combining unique gift items and set opportunities with the added convenience of wrapping and shipping is another way independent stores can tailor their customers’ experience. 

Maximize Your Digital Platforms 

A little extra effort online can go a long way. So, why not drop a drool-worthy product catalog with some featured items and suggested recipes to get your customers’ creative juices flowing? You can then create an omnichannel marketing campaign where you promote on social media with ads for example, as well as in your newsletter. A themed landing page for your website with digital push notifications across your web browser, mobile app, and kiosks combined with more traditional in-store marketing materials then makes for a cohesive and effective promotional online and offline campaign. 

Omnichannel marketing can be used to launch materials such as the seasonal catalog, gift set promotions, and holiday product giveaways to create sleek and targeted ad campaigns. If you’re feeling cheeky this Christmas, why not try out a new social media platform to gain access to potentially unexpected audiences? TikTok is one example of how brands can break out of more traditional online personas and reach younger audiences with a fresh and fun marketing approach. Whilst running digital marketing strategies, such as the right Facebook ad, can reach specific audiences in your local area who you can target special products. 

It’s the perfect time for grocers and supermarkets to get involved by having fun inventing their own seasonal cooking challenges, and holiday hashtags, or having customers submit their own ever-popular unboxing video as a competition entry for example. 

Making Christmas dinner one less thing to worry about is one-way independent grocers can gain thankful customers that return all year round. Using a combination of social media, newsletters, and in-store kiosks to promote seasonal discounts and holiday giveaways is the best way of maximizing your marketing efforts. 
Find out today how Local Express can help upgrade your customer experience this holiday season.