Many companies are bracing for a more nettlesome holiday season this year, with high inflation and other economic factors potentially putting a damper on sales. To make their season more merry, some businesses are turning to technology to drive customer engagement and hopefully ring up more sales.

 

We asked business owners how they expect tech to help them increase sales this holiday season. Here’s how they responded:

 

Rolling out a mobile app to better engage

We are a customizable snack box gifting service, catering mostly companies looking to provide snacks to employees or event attendees. We recently rolled out a new mobile app, SnackDrop, enabling us to gain valuable customer insights while driving sales. Push notifications allow us to communicate directly with our customers while informing them about new product launches, discounts and special offers. It also lets us leverage the rating mechanism and collect quick feedback when it’s most relevant to help inform our product decisions. We’re hopeful this will help us sell more this holiday season.

—Shaunak Amin, co-founder and CEO, SnackMagic, New York City

 

Creating videos showcasing holiday gift ideas

As an online startup specializing in clothing alternations, we utilize social media platforms such as Instagram to showcase the wide range of alteration services we can provide our online customers. This holiday season, we are focusing on creating short videos of customer garment transformations to inspire users to reinvent their clothes for the holiday season—such as by using alterations to make customized gifts that have sentimental value.

—Sarene Alsharif, co-founder and CEO, Tad More Tailoring and Alternations, Rockford, Illinois

 

Optimizing website for mobile

As an online custom jeweler, we expect to see a significant increase in traffic and sales during the holiday season. To capitalize on this, we have optimized our website for mobile devices. This way, people can easily browse through our pages and connect with us on social media while on the go.

—Ty Wilson, co-founder and COO, CustomMade, Telluride, Colorado

 

Using a chatbot

As an employee engagement software provider, one way we’re enhancing our customer experience this holiday season is by using an artificial intelligence-driven chatbot to help customers find what they’re looking for faster and be able to be directed to the right place when they have an issue that needs to be solved. The chatbot allows customers to find answers to questions without having to wait on hold to speak with a representative. If they don’t find the answer, they have the option to live chat or to call in, whichever best suits their preference.

—Logan Mallory, vice president, Motivosity, Salt Lake City, Utah

 

Offering contactless payment options

We are now offering contactless payment options so that our customers have more flexibility to pay us the way they want. Platforms like Paypal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Venmo allow customers to pay for goods and services without having to physically hand over cash or a credit card—which we find appeals to more and more of our customers.

—Kate Smith, founder, ZippiLeather, Chicago

 

Focusing on search-engine optimization

We are working to rank higher on search engines for holiday-related keywords tied to our products. For example, since we are an online retailer of apparel for electronic dance music events such as raves and festivals, we will try to rank for keywords such as “Christmas-themed rave outfits” or “holiday-themed festival clothes.” We know that this can help drive traffic to our website and increase sales.

—Brian Lim, founder and CEO, iHeartRaves, Anaheim, California

 

What is your business doing to drum up sales and engagement this holiday season? Share your insights in the comments section below!

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