A bitter pill to swallow when thinking of the holiday season here in SA is that everything goes up in price tremendously.  We take our hard earned money we make throughout the year and end up paying prices for things of the same calibre as we would for luxury goods.  We do it anyway because it’s the one time of the year we allow ourselves to “indulge” and spoil our loved ones….even though the rest of the year we may be paying off credit cards, we don’t allow ourselves to think of this because it’s the “happy season.”

With this being said, retailers know that they make the most money off us during this period as sales increase by up to 40% (a US website has said).  This is not all doom and gloom as they’ve realised that in order to win over a customer’s “buck,” they need to be more appealing to us by giving us more options to choose from. 

One way of doing this is saving us “money and time” with online shopping and they’ve gone all out with providing us with faster, more effective shopping campaigns.  Retailers are giving us interactive websites where you feel that you are still getting the best they have to offer, whilst still feeling important by being able to shop at “exclusive, one day only” prices. 

I’ve noticed this trend in SA too with our online retailers such as Spree, Stylemology and Style 36.  Their offerings range from 20-40% discounts for “this day only.”  If you consider the hassle it saves you, this is not a bad offering…

In the US, brands such as Topshop, eBay, Gap and JC Penny have put their money where their mouths are and gone all out with their online holiday campaigns, some even donating money to charity in order to bid your “views.”

Here are our top 4 online retail campaigns from the US:

1.    Gap’s VSCO-Powered Gift Guide

Gap gave an indie twist to its holiday gift guide by partnering with seven well-known users of photo-editing app VSCO for its Make Love campaign. Those artists acted as both models and photographers, captured in various Gap products themselves and completing their own photo assignments based on one of Gap’s holiday themes: fair isle, indigo, metallic, plaid, stripes, texture and warmth. The results are featured on both a dedicated page on VSCO’s website as well as in Gap.com’s “Give A-Z” holiday guide.

2.    JC Penney’s “Jingle Mingle” Singing Contest

JC Penney also called for singing content from its fans this year. Up until Dec. 3 it invited aspiring vocalists to upload videos of themselves singing “Silent Night” to its Jingle Mingle website. Hundreds of the best are then going to be played on the facade of the retailer’s Manhattan Mall store. For each one submitted, JC Penney donated $20 to the United Service Organizations (USO).

3.    Topshop’s “Dear Pinterest” Campaign

http://vimeo.com/79406908

It was all about Pinterest for Topshop this season. The UK-based retailer used Pinterest to power its online gift guide, and even attached oversized tags to in-store merchandise identifying the ones that had been pinned the most. In November, there was also a giant touchscreen in Topshop’s New York and London flagships that allowed shoppers to pin, share and shop from a gift list there and then.

4.    Louis Vuitton’s “The Goose Game”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0h1ijKx6ek&feature=player_embedded

Louis Vuitton created an online board game to feature its holiday gifts. The game, which functions much like “Snakes and Ladders,” is made up of squares featuring Louis Vuitton products that players can purchase in just a few clicks.

*Links and information on the campaigns extracted from Fashionista.com