Your holiday ecommerce checklist for the upcoming holiday season — and beyond - GoDaddy Resources

Online retail has never been more competitive — or more full of opportunity. According to Statista, ecommerce revenue is projected to reach £2.88 trillion in 2026 and continue surging to £3.75.05 trillion by 2030.

Whether you've already launched your online store or you're gearing up for your first season, one thing is certain: the holidays remain the single biggest revenue opportunity of the year.

To help you compete and win this season, we've completely updated our holiday ecommerce website checklist with the strategies and tools that matter right now.

Planning for the upcoming holiday season

The ecommerce space has never been more competitive, which means planning early — and planning smarter — is critical.

September is the new November; shoppers are starting their holiday research earlier every year, and the brands that begin preparing in late summer consistently outperform those who wait. Before we dive into the checklist, here are the foundational steps to set your season up for success.

Start earlier than you think

If you're waiting until October to begin your holiday prep, you're already behind. Consumers begin holiday browsing as early as August and September, driven partly by retailers launching promotions earlier each year.

Use the summer months to finalise your product catalogue, build your marketing calendar, and test your website performance.

Increase your staff

Imagine sending out an email campaign and receiving hundreds — or thousands — of orders that same day. If you're understaffed, not only will your team suffer, but so will the customer experience.

Ensure you have reliable people in place for order processing, fulfillment, and customer service before the rush begins. For flexible staffing, gig economy platforms make it easy to bring on temporary help for peak periods without a long-term hiring commitment.

Get an edge with Airo AI Builder

Build a Holiday Gift Finder app for your store. Shoppers answer a few quick questions — who they’re buying for, budget, interests, shipping deadline, and gift style — and the app recommends products, bundles, or gift cards from your store. You can also create landing pages like “Gifts under £50,” “Last-minute gifts,” or “Gifts for teachers” to support holiday SEO and email campaigns.

Get started with this example AI prompt: Build a mobile-friendly Holiday Gift Finder for my online store. Ask shoppers who the gift is for, their budget, interests, and delivery deadline. Recommend matching products and bundles. Include sections for Gifts for Mum, Dad, teachers, coworkers, kids, stocking fillers, gifts under £25, gifts under £50, and last-minute gifts. Add email capture, holiday shipping deadline reminders, and a simple admin dashboard to update products.

Airo AI Builder can create sites, web apps, online stores, dashboards, booking systems, marketplaces, and custom tools from a simple conversation, with hosting/deployment included.

Supercharge your customer service with AI

Handling a surge in customer questions, complaints, and returns doesn't have to overwhelm your team. Today's AI-powered tools can handle a significant portion of customer interactions automatically and intelligently.

AI chatbots like Tidio, Gorgias, and Intercom can manage FAQs, order tracking inquiries, and return requests 24/7 — without a human in the loop
Knowledge base tools let customers self-serve answers to common questions, reducing support ticket volume
AI-generated response suggestions help your human agents reply faster and more consistently during high-volume periods

The goal is to make it effortless for customers to get answers — and free up your team for the issues that truly need a human touch.

Leverage AI across your entire operation

Beyond customer service, AI tools have become indispensable across the holiday ecommerce workflow:

AI-powered product recommendations (built into platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce) automatically surface relevant products to increase average order value
AI copywriting tools like ChatGPT and Jasper can help you rapidly generate product descriptions, holiday email campaigns, and social ad copy
Predictive inventory tools analyse past sales data to help you avoid the two worst holiday outcomes: stockouts and overstock
Automated ad optimisation tools (Meta Advantage+, Google Performance Max) use machine learning to maximise your ad spend efficiency without constant manual adjustment

Understand your customers — and own your data

Understanding what drives your customers to buy has never been more important — or more challenging. With iOS privacy changes limiting ad tracking and third-party cookies being deprecated, your own customer data is now your most valuable asset.

Use analytics tools like Google Analytics 4, Meta Business Suite, and your ecommerce platform's native analytics to understand where your customers come from, when they buy, and what they're buying. But go further:

Grow your email and SMS subscriber lists before the holiday season — these are owned channels you control entirely
Run post-purchase surveys to understand how customers found you and what influenced their decision
Implement a loyalty program (tools like Yotpo or Smile.io work well) to incentivise repeat purchases and collect richer customer data
Ensure your privacy policy and cookie consent banners are up to date and compliant with GDPR regulations

Winning methods to drive ecommerce website traffic

Your ecommerce website lives or dies by your digital marketing. The good news: there are more channels available to you than ever before. The challenge: knowing which ones to prioritise. Here are the most effective methods for the holiday season.

The biggest shift in ecommerce marketing over the past few years is this: social media is no longer just a traffic driver — it's a full storefront. Don't just push people to your website; close the sale on the platform itself.

Instagram and Facebook Shops let you build a shoppable product catalogue directly on your profile, allowing customers to browse and buy without ever leaving the app
TikTok Shop enables in-app purchasing directly from videos, livestreams, and your profile page — and is growing at a staggering pace
Pinterest Shopping Ads reach high-intent buyers with average order values 85% higher than other platforms — and Pinterest users actively use the platform for gift inspiration
YouTube Shopping lets you tag products directly in your videos and Shorts, turning your content into a seamless shopping experience

If you haven't set up storefronts on these platforms yet, do it now — before the holiday season kicks into full gear.

TikTok and short-form video are non-negotiable

TikTok has over 26.8 million UK users, and short-form video — on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts — is now the number-one driver of product discovery for younger shoppers. If your brand isn't showing up here, you're invisible to a massive and fast-growing segment of holiday buyers.

Here's how to make it work:

Create short, punchy product content

You don't need a production team. Authentic 15–60 second videos showing your products in real-life use, holiday gift context, or behind-the-scenes creation consistently outperform polished ads. "Gift ideas under £50," unboxing videos, and "what I got my mom for Christmas" formats perform especially well during the holidays.

Partner with micro-influencers

Creators with 10,000–100,000 followers (micro-influencers) often deliver better engagement and more authentic endorsements than celebrity partnerships — at a fraction of the cost. Look for creators whose audience matches your customer profile and offer product gifting or a small commission via affiliate links.

Use TikTok Spark Ads

When you have organic content that's already performing well, it might be time to start using TikTok for business. You can amplify it with TikTok Spark Ads. This ad format boosts existing posts, preserving the organic feel and social proof (likes, comments) that make the content credible.

Go live

Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube all support live streaming — and live shopping events are becoming a major holiday selling format. Host a live "gift guide" showcase, answer questions in real time, and offer exclusive discounts to viewers. All you need is a smartphone.

Email marketing

Email marketing remains one of the highest-ROI channels available to ecommerce merchants. As a store owner, professional email should still be the backbone of your holiday marketing strategy — but it needs to go beyond generic blasts.

Create a custom-branded holiday email template

Design a holiday-specific template that's visually consistent with your brand. A polished, on-brand template builds trust, saves time across multiple sends, and signals to customers that you're a serious retailer.

Segment and personalise

Generic emails are increasingly ineffective. Use behavioural data to send the right message to the right customer:

Show customers products related to what they've previously browsed or purchased
Create separate sequences for first-time visitors, loyal customers, and lapsed buyers
Use dynamic content blocks to display different products or offers to different audience segments within the same email campaign

Send a mix of image-based and text-based emails

Visually rich emails drive clicks, but plain-text emails often achieve higher inbox placement — Gmail's algorithms are less likely to route them to the "Promotions" tab. A mix of both formats throughout the season will maximise your reach.

Add automated holiday sequences

Set up these automations before the season starts:

Abandoned cart recovery (the single highest-ROI email automation for ecommerce)
Post-purchase upsell — suggest complementary gift items immediately after a purchase
Shipping deadline urgency — a series of emails as key cutoff dates approach
"Still shopping?" re-engagement for customers who opened but didn't buy

Send consistently from September through December

It may feel like a lot, but sending weekly or bi-weekly emails throughout the holiday season is standard practice. Customers receive dozens of promotional emails per day — staying top of mind requires a consistent presence.

SMS marketing: the channel you can't ignore

If you're not using SMS marketing yet, this is the season to start. SMS open rates exceed 90%, compared to roughly 20% for email — making it one of the most direct lines to your customer.

Tools like Klaviyo, Postscript, and Attentive make SMS marketing straightforward to set up and automate. Use it to:

Recover abandoned carts with a well-timed text
Alert subscribers to flash sales and limited-time holiday offers
Confirm orders and share shipping updates (customers love these)
Send last-minute "order by tonight for guaranteed delivery" reminders

Important: Always obtain explicit opt-in consent before texting customers, and ensure your program complies GDPR regulations. Platforms like Klaviyo and Postscript handle compliance guardrails automatically.

Your holiday ecommerce website checklist

Now that you have a solid marketing foundation, let's make sure your actual website is ready to handle the holiday rush — and convert every visitor you work so hard to bring in.

Prepare your ecommerce website

Fix any dead ends (404 errors)

If a customer lands on a broken page, they're gone — and they're probably not coming back. Use Google Search Console to identify and fix any 404 errors before peak traffic arrives.

Set up proper redirects for any discontinued product pages so visitors land on a relevant alternative rather than a dead end.

Optimise your images and site speed

Over half of your visitors will leave if your page takes more than a few seconds to load. Before the season starts:

Compress all product images using tools like TinyPNG, Squoosh, or your platform's native image optimisation
Enable a CDN (Content Delivery Network) — Cloudflare offers a free tier that dramatically improves load times globally
Run your site through Google PageSpeed Insights and address any flagged issues
Aim to pass Core Web Vitals — Google's performance benchmarks that also affect your search rankings

Test your search functionality

A significant share of shoppers will use your site's search bar rather than browse. Make sure your search:

Returns accurate results, including for common misspellings
Handles partial matches and synonym queries (e.g., "hoodie" vs. "sweatshirt")
Surfaces your highest-converting products for broad queries

If your current search functionality is limited, consider upgrading to a dedicated search tool like Searchanise or Boost Commerce.

Check your ecommerce website SEO

Use keywords that have worked before

Dig into your Google Search Console and Google Analytics data from previous holiday seasons. Which search terms drove the most traffic? Which drove the most conversions? Double down on those with updated content, richer product descriptions, and fresh internal links.

Optimise for AI-powered search

Voice search optimisation is still relevant, but the bigger opportunity is optimising for AI-powered search tools like Google's AI Overviews, ChatGPT Search, and Perplexity. These tools summarise information and surface products based on context — not just keywords. To show up:

Write clear, structured product descriptions with natural language FAQs
Implement schema markup (Product, Review, and FAQ schemas), so AI engines can easily parse your content
Earn genuine customer reviews — AI summaries increasingly pull in review sentiment to inform recommendations
Target conversational, intent-driven queries like "best gifts for coffee lovers under £50" or "unique stocking stuffers for teens"

Optimise product pages for long-tail search

Each product page is an SEO opportunity. Write descriptions that answer the questions shoppers are actually asking: "What's the best gift for a dad who has everything?" or "Is this toy appropriate for a 3-year-old?" This kind of content ranks well in both traditional and AI search results.

Create keyword-driven holiday landing pages

Build dedicated landing pages targeting high-volume holiday search queries, such as:

Holiday gifts under £25/£50/£100
Stocking stuffers for him/her/kids/teens
Gift ideas for Dad/Mum/grandparents/teachers/coworkers/boss
Last-minute gift ideas with fast shipping
Gifts for your niche enthusiasts

These pages can rank organically and can also serve as targeted landing pages for your paid ad campaigns.

Start your ecommerce website marketing

Build a holiday marketing calendar

Map out every email sent, social media post, SMS blast, video upload, and promotion from September through December. Use Google Calendar, Notion, Asana or the powerful collaboration provided by Microsoft Office 365 — what matters is that the plan is written down and shared with your whole team.

Key dates to build around:

Halloween — transition to gift season messaging
Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Green Monday — one of the biggest online shopping days of December
Free Shipping Day — last major push
Christmas Eve — digital gift cards and last-minute buyers

Build buzz before the season

Create sneak-peek landing pages and teasers to generate anticipation before your holiday products or promotions go live. Use email, SMS, and social media to hint at what's coming. Countdown timers and "early access" opt-ins for email/SMS subscribers are highly effective for building a list of warm buyers before Black Friday even arrives.

Clearly communicate holiday shipping deadlines

This is non-negotiable. Customers need to know the last date they can order and still receive their gift on time. Build a dedicated shipping deadlines page that covers:

Standard, expedited, and overnight shipping cutoffs
Royal Mail, UPS, and FedEx carrier-specific deadlines (check each carrier's official holiday schedule)
Digital/downloadable product options for last-minute shoppers
Your gift card policy

Link to this page from your homepage, navigation, every email footer, and cart page — and build a dedicated email campaign around it as the deadline approaches.

Curate your top gift ideas

Press the "easy button" for shoppers. A curated gift guide — organised by recipient, price point, or theme — does the decision-making work for your customer and positions your products as validated gift choices. Feature your gift guides prominently on your homepage and use them as the basis for email campaigns, social posts, and short-form videos.

Increase the average order value

If a customer is already in buying mode, make it easy — and rewarding — to spend more:

Tiered promotions: "Spend £75, get free shipping" or "Buy 2, get 1 50% off"
Gift card bonuses: "Get a free £10 gift card with any purchase over £75"
Product bundles: Package related items together at a slight discount — these make exceptional gifts and increase your per-transaction revenue
Post-cart upsells: Suggest complementary add-ons at checkout with messaging like "Customers who bought this also loved…"

Feature bundles prominently on your homepage, in your holiday gift guides, and across all marketing channels.

Open your ecommerce website to all shoppers

Build a mobile-first experience

Mobile is the primary experience for most of your customers. Before the season, rigorously test:

One-tap checkout functionality (Apple Pay, Google Pay)
Page load time on mobile (under 2.5 seconds is the target)
Button and tap target sizes — all interactive elements should be thumb-friendly
Navigation simplicity — mobile menus should allow shoppers to find any category in two taps or fewer
Product images — do they load fast and display crisply on small screens?

Review all shipping options

Early shoppers (October/November) can tolerate standard shipping windows. Late shoppers will need — and expect — expedited options. Ensure your shipping settings reflect:

Standard, 2-day, and overnight options with real-time pricing
Clear carrier and delivery time information at the cart and checkout stages
A reliable fulfillment process that can handle a significant spike in volume

Consider adding in-store pickup (BOPIS — Buy Online, Pick Up In Store) if you have a physical location, as this option has grown dramatically in popularity.

Check accessibility (WCAG 2.1 compliance)

Your store should be usable by everyone. Beyond being the right thing to do, accessibility is increasingly a legal consideration for online retailers. Use a tool like WAVE or axe DevTools to check for common issues: insufficient colour contrast, missing alt text on images, and keyboard navigation problems.

Test everything — thoroughly

Create a structured testing checklist and run through it yourself, then recruit a few trusted friends, family members, or loyal customers to do the same:

Search for products using correct and misspelled terms
Add products to cart, apply discount codes, and complete a test purchase
Find your shipping deadline page and holiday gift guide
Browse on Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge
Browse on both iOS and Android mobile devices
Check that all confirmation and transactional emails arrive correctly

The more friction you remove now, the higher your conversion rate will be when the traffic hits.

Retain and grow: Don't let the holiday season end at Christmas

This is the phase most ecommerce brands completely ignore — and it's one of the biggest missed opportunities of the year. The customers who bought from you in November and December are your warmest possible audience. Here's how to keep them:

Launch a post-holiday win-back campaign

The week after Christmas through New Year's is a powerful sales window. Run targeted campaigns for:

Gift card redemption — people who received gift cards are ready to spend
"Treat yourself" messaging — shoppers switch from buying for others to buying for themselves
New Year promotions — clearance on holiday inventory, new arrivals, and "fresh start" positioning

Request reviews while the experience is fresh

Send a post-purchase email 7–14 days after delivery, asking customers to leave a review. Product reviews are essential for future SEO, conversion rates, and AI search visibility. Tools like Yotpo, Okendo, and Judge.me automate this process and display reviews beautifully on your product pages.

Build a loyalty programme

Turn your holiday buyers into year-round customers. A points-based loyalty programme (tools like Smile.io or LoyaltyLion) gives customers a reason to come back — and makes them feel valued beyond the transaction. Launch your programme at the start of the holiday season so new customers can start earning points immediately.

Segment your new customers for future marketing

Every customer who bought from you this holiday season should be tagged in your email and SMS platform for targeted follow-up campaigns. Create a "Holiday Buyers" segment and nurture them with relevant content, product launches, and exclusive offers throughout the new year.

Pulling it all together

The holiday season is the biggest commercial opportunity of the year — and the ecommerce brands that win are the ones that show up prepared. The landscape has evolved dramatically: shoppers are buying on TikTok, expecting BNPL at checkout, and discovering products through AI-powered search. The tactics that drove results five years ago have been replaced, updated, and supercharged.

To recap what it takes to succeed this season:

Plan early — September is the new November
Lean into AI and automation — for customer service, inventory, personalisation, and ad optimisation
Own your customer data — build your email and SMS lists, and protect your first-party data
Meet shoppers where they are — TikTok Shop, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube are full storefronts now
Make checkout frictionless — BNPL, one-tap mobile payments, and fast load times are table stakes
Don't stop after Christmas — your holiday buyers are your best future customers

Follow this checklist, and you'll not only have a successful holiday season — you'll build a foundation for year-round ecommerce growth.

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