How to Optimize Your eCommerce Strategy for Peak Season 2025
Peak Season is fast approaching. Has your brand done what it takes to get prepared?
We’re not just talking about making sure your website can handle increased bandwidth, or setting up ad campaigns to promote your BFCM deals. Though it’s important to build a strategy for attracting customers during Peak Season, it’s even more vital to look at what you can do to retain them for the long haul.
By looking at ways to optimize your post-purchase experience to improve revenue retention and enhance customer loyalty, you’ll be able to increase your brand’s long-term sustainability long after the holiday season is done.
Changing Peak Season expectations in 2025
There’s no doubt it’s been a weird year in the ecommerce space, with ever-changing tariff rates and inflation on the rise. And consumers are changing their behaviors as a result, with more than 60% of them committed to curbing their spending.
That changes the game for retailers: While last year’s retail sales grew by 3.6% over the previous year, the National Retail Federation is more cautious in their outlook for 2025, anticipating a growth rate somewhere between 2.7% and 3.7%. And much of that shopping will be done in the Peak Season period based around Black Friday - Cyber Monday shopping events.
Customers are more value-driven than in the past – so your brand will need to take initiative to stay ahead of your competitors by delivering a better customer experience through every step of the sales and delivery process, including after the purchase. By prioritizing the post-purchase experience, you’ll be able to build trust in your brand that will help you transform one-time Peak Season sales into year-round recurring revenue.
Elevating the post-purchase experience: Your Peak Season prep checklist
If you’ve built a strategy for bringing in customers during the BFCM shopping season, it’s equally important to create a plan that helps you hold onto them, long after the holiday spike is over.
Follow this Peak Season prep checklist to make sure you’re on track to delight your shoppers after they’ve placed an order.
1. Elevate your post-purchase comms and order tracking:
Especially around the holidays, customers will be anxious if your brand ghosts them after you’ve confirmed their order. They may have purchased the item to give to a friend or relative during the holidays, and need frequent reassurance that it’s set to arrive on time. To that end, it’s crucial to use ecommerce order tracking technology to provide your shoppers with accurate, real-time estimates around their delivery timelines. Loop’s Delivery Promise makes it easy for them to understand the arrival date for each product ahead of purchasing based on shipping location and method, and branded order tracking provides regular updates throughout the shipping process so they can feel confident around their purchase. By sending delivery estimate updates via email and SMS that link to a branded order tracking page, you’ll be able to keep customers engaged with your brand during the post-purchase journey. You can enhance your order tracking page with additional information, including product recommendations that can generate upsells, and an FAQ section to help shoppers answer their questions.
2. Optimize your returns and exchange process:
When it comes to holiday gatherings, not every gift is well-received – including the ones that customers purchase for themselves. No matter why a shopper wants to return an item, it’s crucial to make the returns process as hassle-free as possible. By providing a seamless returns experience, they’ll be far more motivated to consider an exchange instead, and to purchase from your brand in the future. To do this, consider options like:
- A branded returns portal: Give shoppers access to a branded self-service portal, where they can initiate their own return or exchange requests, rather than waiting on your customer support team to help them. They’ll be able to easily get their money back or choose a replacement item for an exchange, even if it’s a different price from the original item. If they’re undecided, they can even store their credit in the portal securely, and spend it later.
- Omnichannel returns options: Shoppers are overwhelmingly using omnichannel strategies for both purchases and returns – so, especially with return shipping costs on the rise, you’ll be able to deliver a better customer experience by allowing shoppers to choose between a mail-in or in-store return. Using Loop’s Checkout+ tool, they can pay a small amount upfront for access to a free mail-in return later, or choose a local drop-off option for free in-store returns. By providing optionality around returns, they’ll be able to balance cost and convenience to find the right option for them.
- Automated fraud management: Returns fraud is on the rise, but you shouldn’t let a few bad apples spoil the experience for all your shoppers by setting up restrictive policies. Loop offers automated fraud detection technology that helps you pinpoint transactions that show markers for fraud, and stop them in their tracks. You can also use Workflows to set up guardrails for fraud prevention, such as subjecting high-value returns to a manual review process before approving the refund, or blocklisting customers who’ve frequently returned items. By being proactive about managing and mitigating fraud, you’ll be able to protect your margins and your customer experience.
3. Track return trends with analytics tools
Even though you’re focused on preparing for this year’s sales event, don’t neglect the opportunity to enhance the customer journey for returning and future shoppers. By gathering analytic insights on your product returns, you can tap into indicators that help you understand how to optimize your store’s online presence to improve the customer experience going forward.
For example, return reasons let you quiz shoppers on why they’re returning a particular product: Did it not arrive in time? Was it too small, too large, or just not their style? By seeing trends around which products are being returned most frequently and why, you can set the wheels in motion to improve the experience for future customers through listing optimization, inventory management, or shipping carrier or manufacturer changes.
By creating a smooth post-purchase flow for your shoppers, you’ll be able to increase confidence in your brand – leading to steadier, growing sales volume over the years to come.
Want to learn how to set your brand up for Peak Season success? Book a demo of Loop.
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