2016 Holiday Calendar: It’s Time to Start Preparation Now

Although it may feel entirely too early to be talking about the holiday season, anyone will tell you that it’s impossible to be too prepared for the busiest and most profitable time of the year. With the day-to-day hustle of running an online business it can be easy to forget approaching holidays. But the last quarter of the year sees the most increase in number of orders and average order size. In 2015 we saw a record rise in online shopping and this trend is predicted to increase by up to 45 percent this year. It is also expected that over 192 million shoppers will choose to shop from the comfort of their living room. So, how can your business use this trend to your advantage? Prepare for the holiday season well in advance.

So far in 2016, the following holidays & important dates have passed:

January

• Jan 1: New Year’s Day
• Jan 6: Epiphany
• Jan 7: Orthodox Christmas Day
• Jan 10: World Laughter Day
• Jan 14: Orthodox New Year
• Jan 18: Martin Luther King Jr. Day

February

• Feb 1: National Freedom Day
• Feb 2: Groundhog Day
• Feb 8: Chinese New Year
• Feb 9: Mardi Gras
• Feb 9: Shrove Tuesday
• Feb 10: Ash Wednesday
• Feb 14: Valentines Day
• Feb 15: Presidents’ Day, Family Day
• Spring Cleaning

March

• Mar 4: Employee Appreciation Day
• Mar 6: Mother’s Day (UK)
• Mar 8: International Womens Day

How many of these did your business plan for and participate in? If the answer is none, don’t worry you are not alone. But the only way your online business can fix this is by planning ahead. The last quarter of the year is packed with holidays and the first step to prepare for this is to look at and familiarize yourself with the upcoming ones. After, you will need to decide which holidays are the most important and make the most sense for your business and customers.

Upcoming Holidays & Important Dates:

This calendar should help your business stay organized while planning your 2016 holiday sales. It is also important to mention that for global businesses, there may be even more holidays than the ones we have listed that your business should take into account. Planning ahead is always better sooner rather than later and it will ensure that your business has all the materials ready to make the most of the holiday rush. Plus, having everything in place and ready to go will reduce your stress and make the season go more smoothly.

BMT Micro is here to help as well. Our system can be used to setup up many different discount schemes for your holiday promotions and to offer your customers the convenience of using multiple payment options. It is also important to note that more data breaches occur during the holidays than any other time of the year. With BMT Micro, you can keep your customers sensitive information safe with our secure servers (which host all shopping carts using the highest encryption standards available) and state-of-the-art fraud detection system. Our highly trained customer service team also handles all questions your customers may have related to the payment and ordering process. We offer marketing services as well, so please feel free to contact us to learn more about all of the services we offer and how we can help better prepare your business for the 2016 holiday season.