With the holiday shopping season in full swing, many retailers are looking to lock down their marketing and promotional strategies for the next major shopping holiday, Green Monday. If you’re not familiar with the newest consumer shopping holiday falling in December, here’s everything that you need to know:
What Is It?
Green Monday is a shopping holiday that falls in December, after the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales holidays that fall in late November or early December.
What Does It Mean?
Though the socially conscious consumer might interpret the “Green” in Green Monday to insinuate it has nods to environmental responsibility, that is not the case. Originally coined by eBay in the late 2000’s, Green Monday was created to describe the most profitable sales day in December. It’s also been referred to as the “Lazy Man’s Cyber Monday.”
When Is It?
Typically falling on the second Monday in December, it’s typically the cutoff for shipping online purchases direct to consumers before the holidays. With that in mind, it’s typically after Green Monday when online retailers urge consumers to choose expedited shipping methods to ensure a timely arrival of their purchases.
Why Should You Care?
Green Monday is another opportunity to promote your products and drive sales this holiday season, and one that more and more retailers are participating in each year. Depending on your business, this could be the last chance to clear out inventory before the end of the year. For those shoppers who haven’t quite completed their list, they’re looking to Green Monday for deals on their remaining holiday purchases.
How Can You Get Involved?
Make sure your customers know that you’re celebrating by offering a discount on their purchase, complimentary gift wrapping, or free or expedited shipping for Green Monday. This could be an opportunity to go a little deeper on your discount than earlier in the shopping season, to move through remaining inventory.
Once the final rush of purchases and online orders comes in, all that’s left is to ensure fulfillment, manage customer service needs, and wish your customers Happy Holidays. For many retailers, Green Monday is an important sales day to ensure they finish the year strong.