DTC636: Holiday Shopping Predictions 2024

Good morning,

According to Adobe Analytics, 53% of online holiday purchases are forecasted to happen on mobile devices in 2024, higher than last year. 

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But the ‘shopping on smaller screens’ trend isn’t the only one to watch out for. Keep reading for more holiday shopping predictions to keep tabs on. 👇

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Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC:

🔮 Salesforce shares their four holiday shopping predictions and why this will be the most competitive year yet. 

🍞 Breaking down protein bread EQUII’s packaging transformation and whether we think this is a glow-up or a glow-down.

⭐ And…as we inch closer to Q4, here’s some advice on leadership and getting the most out of your team. 

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You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Holly Lulu, Tourism Barrie, and Skratch Labs 👋

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🎄 Salesforce Releases Q4 Holiday Shopping Predictions

It’s beginning to look a lot like… 🎄

OK, maybe it’s not Christmas yet, but the holidays are creeping up. So, if you are an agency or brand owner, here is how to prepare for the changing ecommerce landscape in Q4.

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Here are four of Salesforce’s holiday shopping predictions to keep tabs on:

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1️⃣ Increased competition: 63% of Western consumers plan to purchase from Chinese shopping apps like Temu, TikTok, and Shein during the holiday season.

Customers are looking for great prices and will compare multiple platforms before purchasing, so fine-tune your pricing strategy.

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2️⃣ Customers are turning to AI for product discovery. AI will greatly influence our shopping habits this year as customers turn to AI tools or AI search to find the perfect gift.

Online marketplaces like Etsy have already launched tools like AI Gift Mode to help customers find a gift for every occasion, so it’s essential for brands to figure out how to use AI to their advantage.

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3️⃣ Black Friday will be Cyber Friday: More customers than ever will choose to shop online and will be looking for ecommerce site deals, so get those campaigns ready!

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4️⃣ Loyal buyers will be more important than ever: To offset costly marketing campaigns, brands must tap into their loyal customer base to meet their sales goals.

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Salesforce predicts loyal repeat buyers will make up an estimated 40% of the purchases this season, so treat your VIP customers well and be rewarded with their business during this high-intent shopping period.

What preparations are you making for Q4?

Reply to the newsletter and let us know!

🍞 Breaking Down Protein Brand EQUII’s Packaging Refresh

EQUII’s protein bread recently underwent a big packaging transformation.

EQUII’s previous branding was typical of many bread brands in a grocery store–familiar but easily lost among competitors. They wanted packaging that could speak about their unique selling point: enjoying bread with more nutritional value.

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Here are the packaging tweaks they made to stand out on shelves and online. 👇

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Vibrant colors: The new branding introduced bright green, purple, and blue hues to their color palette to make the product pop. 🎨

Customers can easily differentiate between the three different lines (Balance, Thin, and Protein) and make a choice based on their protein needs.

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Large typography: While the brand always used a large font for their product name, they also introduced other design elements like color blocking to emphasize the amount of protein in each product.

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Streamline design: To highlight their unique value proposition, they simplified their icons to look more modern and simplistic.

For example, the full wheat icon takes on a more minimalistic grain-like shape and communicates the product’s nutritional value well.

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The verdict?

These strategic packaging design changes make the EQUII branding look more vibrant, joyful, and modern, making it easier to sell to health-conscious consumers who want to add less carbs and more protein into their diet.

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🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE

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💸 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

• Digital booking and payment platform Freightos acquires Shipsta to expand digital shipping services.
• Dropbox acquires calendar app Reclaim.ai for an undisclosed amount.
• Bitcoin miner Bitfarms acquires Stronghold in $125 million stock transaction deal.

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⚡ QUICK HITS

⏰ Time is running out! If you haven’t secured your ticket to our C-Suite Mastermind this September 18th and 19th in Victoria, BC… The time is NOW. Grab your ticket here (trust us, you WILL have FOMO).

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Have you heard our latest podcasts?

• 👟 How VKTRY Gear Achieved 240% Growth with Niche Marketing
• 🆚 AKNF 433: All In on Amazon v.s. Diversified DTC
• 🌪️ Cherene Aubert on Using the Tornado Effect to Scale ILIA Beauty
• 💡 AKNF 431: Develop Your Own Data-Backed Creative Strategy
• 🧊 Brock Mammoser on Frost Buddy’s $30M TikTok to Meta Pipeline
• 🤔 AKNF 429: Are Your Amazon Ads Cannibalizing Organic Results?

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Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)

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DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Frances Du. Edited by Eric Dyck.

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