The Ultimate Guide to Preparing Your Mobile App for Holiday Traffic

The holiday season presents a special opportunity for every brand. On the one hand, this is the period when shoppers are most willing to make purchases they would otherwise think twice about. This makes it ideal for brands to yield revenue in a manner that is not possible during other times of the year. On the other hand, this is also a period of fierce brand competition where it is surprisingly easy to fall into obscurity with generic marketing. One way to avoid this from happening is to leverage your app and ensure that your content has a decent reach. And seeing that the 2024 holiday season is not long ahead, we feel it prudent to give you a full guide on how to handle this common issue.

Understanding the holiday season

In order to set up your app properly we first need to understand what the holiday season is about. There are certain things that make the holiday season unique. The most notable one is the change of attitude among customers. The holiday season is essentially synonymous with increased consumer spending, particularly during major shopping events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the lead-up to Christmas. To make use of this attitude, brands tend to leverage this period by launching targeted promotions, discounts, and exclusive offers.

These limited-time offers cause users to fear missing out (FOMO). Combined with free shipping offers it becomes obvious why customers feel encouraged to make quicker purchasing decisions. Additionally, shoppers tend to prioritize gift purchases, which shifts demand toward specific categories like apparel, electronics, and toys.

Preparing your mobile app for holiday traffic

So, we have the seasonal motivation to spend more, the FOMO effect, and the expectation that brands will offer special deals. If you wish to prepare your mobile app for holiday traffic you need to carefully and thoughtfully weave these in. As we mentioned, is fairly easy to make generic holiday content, make minimal design changes to your app to fit the ongoing holiday, and push special offers on your pages. While it is possible to simply engage your holiday shoppers with festive stories, you might want to consider a different approach. Here at StorifyMe, we motivate our partners to be creative and to understand their audience and the platform they are using. So, let's outline what you ought to consider for the upcoming holiday season.

Researching customers

A simple rule of content marketing is that the more you know about your customer the more effective your content is going to be. So, here is how certain customer data can guide you in the right direction and improve engagement rates.

Gather customer purchase history

If your brand is more than a year old, you already have some experience when it comes to seasonal sales. It was a successful year, it likely occurred that certain items seemingly flew off the shelf, while others collected dust in your storage. So, if you want to be effective in 2024, you need to put this prior experience into practice.

Suffice it to say, you should look to push items that have a decent track record. What may be less obvious is that you should look to make these items special for the upcoming season. Ideally, you will make it possible for your customers to personalize their orders as that will make them that much more alluring when it comes to gift-giving. If not, you can at least look to alter the items to fit the holiday season. A limited supply of these seasonal items will give your users FOMO and increase their need for spending.

Outline the time of purchase

As we said, one of the biggest marketing difficulties during the holiday season is standing out from the competition. This period is a time of oversaturation with marketing content where all brands feel the importance of having their content seen. This leads to an oversaturation where a huge amount of content gets pushed on customers. Luckily, you can overcome this by using your app.

It is important to note that the timing of your marketing content is just as important as the content itself. While you can create top-notch content, it won't do you much good if it simply blends in with the rest. To avoid this from happening you need to make use of timing. If you know the time of day when they are most likely to make their purchases you can look to time your in-app notifications. All demographics have certain purchasing patterns, which include the preferred purchasing time. If you make use of that time window, you'll pretty much guarantee their interest. Your content won't fall into obscurity and your users will actually find it relevant.

Understand channel preference

The last thing we will note when it comes to customers is that they all have preferred channels they use outside your app. Even if you've designed a top-notch app, you shouldn't assume that your customers use only it. While using it, they will compare your offers to your competitors, and look for reviews from other users. To do that, they will likely turn to a third-party channel like Facebook, Google, Instagram, or in some cases, even TikTok. So, your job, like in previous examples, is to understand your customers and figure out which channel they are using.

Your app, both before and especially during the holiday season, needs to be connected to their channel of preference. Ideally, your users will be able to seemingly go from your app to their preferred channel and finalize their purchases with ease. The more seamless their cross-platform experience is, the more comfortable they will be while shopping with you.

Setting up your app

Now, let's take what we've outlined so far and elaborate on how to set up your app. This will include optimizing the user experience, improving app performance, and leveraging marketing tactics to capitalize on the surge in consumer activity. Here’s a step-by-step guide to get your app holiday-ready.

Encourage app downloads

The only way to make use of your app is if most of your users end up downloading it. So, what you ought to do is encourage users to download and shop via the app by offering special app-only promotions, early access to sales, or bonus discounts for the upcoming holiday season. Another option is to reward repeat customers or app users with loyalty points, free shipping, or additional discounts during the holiday season. Lastly, you can launch a referral program offering both the referrer and the new user a holiday discount or free gift. This way, users who otherwise weren't all that interested in your app will have a clear incentive to install it.

Optimize app performance

The whole idea of seasonal marketing is to increase your online traffic. So, the safe course of action is to expect higher traffic and transactions during the holiday season. Stress-test your app for performance and server load capacity to avoid crashes or slow loading times. Know that users expect quick and seamless experiences, especially during peak shopping periods. 90% of your users will consider switching to your competitors if your app is slow, or worse yet unresponsive. So, optimize images, code, and database queries to improve load speed. Also, ensure your app is free from bugs, glitches, and technical issues that could negatively affect user experience.

Improve user experience (UX)

Another way to frustrate your users is to make your app incompatible with their devices. So, consider it your job to ensure that your app’s interface is fully optimized for different devices and screen sizes, particularly mobile, as many users shop on their phones during the holidays.

You should also look to simplify the checkout process by reducing the number of steps. Every extra step the users have to take on the road to finalizing their purchase is an opportunity for them to change their minds. So, try to streamline and reduce the purchasing journey as much as possible. Offer multiple payment options (credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, etc.) and consider implementing one-click checkout for registered users. You should also allow users to checkout as guests without creating an account to increase conversion rates during the holiday rush. Provide clear information on delivery timelines, including any last-minute shopping cutoffs for holiday delivery.

Optimize product search

The whole point of having a decent UX is to make shopping enjoyable. One part of that is making it easy to finalize purchases. But an equally important part is making it easy for shoppers to browse your app. So if your search algorithm is a bit lacking, you might want to optimize it. Ensure that your search functionality is efficient and intuitive, with autocomplete and filtering options. Users should be able to find products easily, especially during the holiday rush. Keep in mind that you need to gather search data to help customers with personalized product recommendations. Offer themed gift guides based on customer preferences, such as gifts under $50, gifts for kids, or top holiday picks. If you don't know much about your customers, you can always highlight trending or best-selling items on the homepage or in a dedicated section.

Design and theming

It has become somewhat of a tradition that brands update their design with a festive look, such as holiday colors, icons, or banners. This makes the experience feel seasonal and relevant without overwhelming the usability. Once you choose to do so, we would advise you to work with a seasoned visual designer. Coming up and implementing good changes can be tricky. Especially if you are also trying to maintain the loading speed of your app.

This slight change in app design is also a great opportunity to push dynamic content to display product recommendations. This can include personalized products, special holiday deals, and gift guides based on users’ past behaviors and preferences.

Push notifications and in-app messaging

The best way to make use of timing, as we've discussed, is through push notifications. Use push notifications to alert users about exclusive holiday offers, flash sales, and limited-time deals. And do so when they are most likely to shop. This time period can differ based on demographics. And you should pay attention to specific times of day, as well as days in the week. Be mindful of the frequency to avoid spamming.

Another use of notifications is to remind users about items they’ve left in their cart with special holiday discounts or free shipping incentives. You can also create a sense of urgency with notifications that count down to shipping deadlines or the end of promotions.

Holiday marketing integration

Regardless of how good your app is, it doesn't exist in an online vacuum. If you want to prepare your mobile app for holiday traffic you need to ensure that it is integrated with the rest of your marketing. So, synchronize your in-app marketing with your broader holiday campaigns (email, social media, ads). Highlight seasonal deals, gift cards, and limited-time offers. Unfortunately, trying to reach your customers on every available channel can be costly. This is why it is important to be aware of what channel has the biggest reach for your target demographic. Make it easy for users to share their purchases or wishlists on social media (especially from the preferred channel) directly from the app.

Customer service and support

Even if you create a top-notch shopping experience that is intuitive and easy to use, expect that your shoppers will run into issues. And seeing that the extra traffic on new users will likely bring new confusion, you really ought to also prepare your customer's support. Ideally, you will have live chat or AI-based support to assist users with any issues or questions related to their orders, products, or holiday promotions. To lower the load on these systems, you should look to update your FAQ section with answers to common holiday questions regarding shipping, returns, gift-wrapping, and customer service hours. You should also consider extending your customer support hours during the holiday season to address the increased volume of inquiries.

Post-holiday preparation

Lastly, you should look to make the most of the increased shopping interest during the holiday season. You can do this by making it easy for customers to process returns or exchanges directly through the app. This will inevitably lead to better reviews and ratings, which will improve brand reputation. Also, try to extend the holiday season into January by offering post-holiday or New Year promotions to retain users after the holidays.

Final thoughts

What we've outlined so far should help you prepare your mobile app for holiday traffic and ensure that your seasonal shoppers have a good in-app experience. Unfortunately, there is no one-for-all guide when it comes to app design and management. So, what we advise is that you make the alterations you deem necessary and track your performance. StorifyMe's insight can help determine important metrics and learn from them about your customers. Feel free to schedule a demo with us and start preparing your app for the upcoming holiday season.