The 2020 eCommerce Calendar is Here! Get Ready For This Year’s Holidays
When it comes to running your own eCommerce store, one of the most important things to remember is that you need to cater to a global audience. Your customers can literally come from any country in the world, making it well worth your while to understand both global shopping trends as well as more localized customs.
At no time is this truer than during shopping holidays, the days when shoppers expect exclusive promotions and deep discounts. With dozens of holidays throughout the year – some international (e.g., Christmas) and some local (e.g., Health-Sports Day in Japan) – knowing which holidays to focus on can be difficult. That’s where the Payoneer 2020 eCommerce Calendar comes in. In it, we outline every major global shopping holiday, giving you a complete overview of the events that you’ll want to focus on as you plan your 2020 sales and marketing promotions.
Here, we’ll give you a peak into a few of this year’s most important holidays. To learn about all the shopping events coming your way in 2020, download our free eCommerce Calendar.
Lunar New Year – January 25th
Lunar New Year, also known as Spring Festival or Chinese New Year, is the first major shopping holiday of 2020 and one of the biggest. Celebrated by more than 1 billion people in China, as well as hundreds of millions of others worldwide, Lunar New Year is the ideal time to promote your store and get the year started off on the right foot.
This year’s Spring Festival officially starts on the night of January 24th, with the traditional reunion dinner and lasts through the Lantern Festival on February 8th. Popular shopping categories during the holiday include health and beauty products, clothing and food. It’s important to customize your products with as much as red as possible, which symbolizes good luck.
St. Patrick’s Day – March 17th
While St. Patrick’s Day is officially a religious holiday honoring Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, in practice it’s a global event celebrated by millions of people of different religions and ethnicities. Massive parades and parties are held in major cities worldwide every March 17th, presenting eSellers with an excellent opportunity to join in on the fun by marketing their holiday themed products.
Popular product categories on St. Patrick’s Day include anything that’s green and/or Irish themed, including:
- Clothing – Green clothes are practically a must on St. Patrick’s Day. Make sure your products include an added Irish touch, such as a shamrock, Irish flag or other design.
- Novelty items – Giant hats, green sunglasses and foam fingers are only a few of the many novelty items shoppers are looking for on St. Patrick’s Day.
- Party supplies – Green party hats, streamers, beads and balloons are a few of the products that shoppers look for when they’re organizing their St. Patrick’s Day parties.
Back to School – September
August is typically a light month on the eCommerce calendar. Thankfully, September marks the start of the school year in many countries, making it the ideal time to start your back-to-school sales. Back-to-school product categories have gone well beyond backpacks and binders and now include everything from electronics, e.g., tablets, phones and laptops, to clothing and apparel.
Because back-to-school sales encompass such a wide range of products, it pays to invest in optimizing your store with relevant keywords and design to help it stand out from the rest of the pack. Wondering how to get started? Here are a few tips to prepare for back-to-school shoppers.
Singles’ Day – November 11th
Originally conceived by Chinese students as a Valentine’s Day alternative for single people, Singles’ Day was co-opted in 2009 by eCommerce giant Alibaba and has since turned into a global sales phenomenon, targeting everyone, regardless of their relationship status. Some 180,000 global brands now take part in Singles’ Day, while profits have shot up from year to year – sales on Alibaba increased by 26% on Singles’ Day 2019, reaching $38.4 billion.
While Singles’ Day is now considered a global shopping day, most eCommerce on the holiday is still situated in Asia. For eSellers looking to join the festivities, it pays to open a store on some of the leading Asian marketplaces, including Alibaba, Shopee, JD.ID and Lazada.
Conclusion
Interested in learning more about upcoming shopping holidays? Our free eCommerce calendar contains 90 of the most important shopping days of the year, along with helpful tips for getting your store ready.
