When marketing your business and products, there’s no time more important than the holidays. It’s common knowledge that consumers spend the most money on average on Black Friday and the following days leading up to Christmas. So if you market it correctly, your business could see a lot of revenue during this time. But did you know that those aren’t the only retail holidays?
Keeping an eye out for marketable holidays could mean getting ahead of the competition, especially if you run an online store. As of 2022, 22% of commerce was online, growing by 2% yearly. In addition, experts project that nearly a quarter of purchases will be online. Therefore, running campaigns regarding retail holidays is vital. Here is a list of some of the biggest retail holidays and events in 2023.
January
There aren’t many holidays in January compared to other months, but businesses should take full advantage of the few there. For example, in January 2023, there are three potential holidays that you could use to advertise your business/products. The first holiday, New Year’s Day, takes place on January 1st and is marketable for virtually all businesses. The second is the Chinese New Year on the 22nd, and the third is National Pie Day on the 23rd.
One of the most prevalent traditions associated with New Year’s Day is creating a New Year’s resolution — a goal people set for themselves that they hope to accomplish within the next 365 days. This often leads people to impulsively purchase items related to said resolution, which you could use to your advantage.
Chinese New Year is relatively similar to its American counterpart, but it falls on a different day due to China’s use of the lunisolar calendar.
If you run a bakery or other dessert-related business, National Pie Day is the perfect time to encourage potential customers to come in and enjoy some pie.
February
February has more holidays than the previous month, and the number you can use to market your business depends on your creativity. In total, there are four retail holidays to choose from.
Groundhog Day, February 2nd, a groundhog is brought out to predict whether we’ll get a long winter or an early spring this year. It does so by looking around when the sun is high in the sky and looking for its shadow. It will be six more weeks of winter weather if it sees its shadow. If not, spring is on the way.
Superbowl Sunday, February 12th, while not considered a holiday by everyone, is one of the most marketable outside of Christmas and Thanksgiving. Any football-related memorabilia will sell in a heartbeat.
Valentine’s Day, February 14th, is well known as the holiday for couples to express their love for one another, often via gift-giving or buying food. That means that, as long as you stock the right items, you can get plenty of customers to buy things for their significant other. However, while Valentine’s Day is for couples everywhere, the next day is Singles Awareness Day, a holiday for those who haven’t found a partner or don’t want one.
March
March doesn’t have many retail holidays, but the ones it does have are very consumer-based. The first is Mardi Gras, a carnival-themed celebration especially popular in New Orleans, where people gather in the streets for parties, parades, drinking, and fun. Then there’s Pi Day, which is different from Pie Day but is often celebrated similarly as a pun. Lastly, there’s St. Patrick’s Day, an Irish-based holiday commemorating the death day of Irish patron Saint Patrick.
April
April has only two retail holidays, but one is almost as big as Christmas. Easter, April 9th, is when Christians celebrate the day Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Since then, it has also become associated with rabbits, springtime blooming, toys, and candy. The other retail holiday is Earth Day, which you can use to show consumers everything your company is doing to help the environment.
May
Mother’s Day is the leading retail holiday of May. It’s a day to show any mothers, grandmothers, and all motherly figures in your life that you recognize everything they do and appreciate them. This appreciation often comes in a floral bouquet, a box of chocolates, or jewelry. In 2023, it will fall on May 14th.
The other retail holiday in May is Memorial Day. Memorial Day is often seen as the first day of summer, which makes it a perfect time to advertise your new summer items and throw in a discount or two to potential buyers.
June
June only has one widely recognized retail holiday, Father’s day. In 2023, Father’s day will fall on June 18th. The concept behind it is virtually the same as mother’s day, only for fathers, grandfathers, etc., in your life. Father’s Day isn’t just for related fathers but any father figures in your life to whom you’d like to show your appreciation.
July
July, like June, only has one widely recognized retail holiday (as do the next three months). However, almost everyone celebrates Independence day (commonly referred to as the 4th of July) in the US. People go all out to decorate themselves, their houses, and even (occasionally) their cars in red, white, and blue. Parades are held in almost every city, and fireworks are set off after dark, not only on July 4th but for days afterward.
August
While not technically a holiday, most parents and students do their back-to-school shopping in August. For the entire month, things like notebooks, pencils, pens, etc., are nearly impossible to find as they get bought off the shelves almost as soon as they’re stocked.
September
Labor Day is the only retail holiday in September and is often when last-minute shoppers scramble to get any school supplies they may have forgotten during August. It also tends to be the day students buy their new summer wardrobe before the school year begins.
October
Halloween is October’s only retail holiday, but it’s a big one. Halloween is when monsters come out to play- or at least people dressed like them. But, of course, Halloween wouldn’t be the same without trick-or-treating, meaning candy and costumes will be in high demand, as will any Halloween-related decorations.
November
November is home to Veteran’s Day and two of the biggest retail holidays. Veteran’s day is set aside to remember the fallen soldiers who fought for our country and thank those still with us for their service.
The other two holidays are Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Thanksgiving is the number one day for selling food-related products, as almost everyone celebrates it with a feast. It’s a day to gather with family and friends and share memories and meals.
Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving, on which it’s a tradition for stores and shops to cut their prices significantly and sell virtually everything they’ve got to consumers who are shopping ahead for Christmas Presents.
December
There are four holidays in December; the last is New Year’s Eve. The first three are Christmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa. Christmas, in particular, is the number one day for marketing a business and its products, as it is the most consumerist holiday of the year. New Year’s Eve doesn’t tend to be as extreme as the others, but it can still work to your advantage. Confetti, banners, fireworks, and noisemakers are all popular purchases, plus champagne and other forms of alcohol.
