4 essential strategies for success beyond peak times

According to our latest benchmark report, The fall of peak, which incorporates survey responses from consumers and digital leaders, alongside anonymized data from the Quantum Metric platform, to understand the biggest shift in shopping and booking trends for the holidays and beyond.

The holiday season is still critically important, but the lines between peak and off-peak are blurring, requiring brands to adapt and maintain consistent engagement year-round. So what can digital leaders learn from our latest findings to adopt a more robust strategy?

1. Peak success is driven by what happens before and after the big day

Preparing for just a single day or week each year is no longer enough to win over consumers.

• Digital traffic patterns are shifting from familiar peaks and valleys to more consistent engagement. 2024 saw a mere 3% dip in traffic between March and May, compared to the double-digit declines in prior years.
• Whether iPhone sales or Cyber 5, the average customer visits a product page 2-3 times before deciding to buy, 4-6 visits when purchasing gifts or higher-priced items.
• A surprising 51% even visit a site pre-sale to test out payment methods and the checkout process.

How digital teams should respond

Effective audience segmentation here is key. Go beyond basic demographics and examine specific customer actions and behaviors during peak seasons. Did they gravitate towards particular product categories? Did they respond to certain types of promotions?

2. Retaining customers post-peak should be a primary goal

Acquiring customers during peak seasons is a significant achievement, but the real challenge lies in retaining them.

• Even minor issues can have a big impact: 54% of shoppers will abandon a site without asking for help with a plan to either return later or try another site.
• When it comes to customer service, 67% are ready to switch to a competitor’s site if they encounter problems, particularly during support interactions.
• Consumers expect their feedback to be incorporated or fixed in the experience within a few hours, while digital leaders say it could take 1-2 days.

How digital teams should respond

Creating intuitive and frictionless digital experiences is fundamental to building lasting customer loyalty. Think about the entire customer journey, from the moment they first interact with your brand to their ongoing engagement with your products or services.

This is also where close integration of data from all channels, like customer survey data, point of sale (POS), and contact center, is key to getting a full understanding of the customer and a quick fix for their experience.

3. Make mobile a year-round priority

A robust mobile strategy is no longer a mere option but a necessity.

• Mobile traffic saw a 10% increase between March and June of this year, compared to a mere 1-2% increase observed in previous years.
• In mobile sales, 2024 saw a 27% increase between March and June, compared to just 7% in 2023.
• 44% of consumers find push notifications annoying, often due to their frequency or irrelevance.

How digital teams should respond

Mobile should be built as a unique experience, with the right visibility and considering the specific needs and behaviors of its users.

4. Make sure to examine KPIs beyond conversion

While conversion rate remains an important metric, it doesn’t tell the whole story.

• For example, our data reveals that while average order values (AOV) in the retail sector increased by 50% between March and July 2024, conversion rates (CVR) dropped by 16%.
• Meanwhile, in travel, while CVR saw a 14% increase between July and September, AOV dropped by 30%.

How digital teams should respond

To gain a comprehensive view of post-peak performance, brands need to delve into metrics that measure engagement, satisfaction, loyalty, and most importantly, evaluate the Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) to understand the long-term profitability of each customer relationship.

Peak seasons provide a wealth of insights that can fuel continuous improvement and drive brand loyalty throughout the year. By embracing continuous optimization, leveraging first-party data, prioritizing customer experience, and redefining success metrics, brands across all industries can thrive in the evolving digital landscape.

Check out our full benchmark report, The fall of peak, to elevate your strategy and stay ahead of the competition, or watch our webinar on-demand where we run through the data together.