Even when you’re crystal clear about deadlines for placing holiday orders, you’ll still have customers who overlook those deadlines and wait until the last minute to shop.
You definitely don’t want to lose these sales, so you want to accommodate last-minute shoppers as much as you can. Also, with the pandemic still going on, even orders placed in time may get delayed and arrive late. And you don’t want to lose these sales either.
To help save more of your last-minute sales, I came up with a solution a few years ago that’s seemed to work well.
Basically, you give anyone who places a last-minute order a digital card with an image of the item(s) they ordered that says “Your present is on its way.” Customers can print these cards and give them to the intended recipients of their gifts directly. Or they can email them.
This way, customers aren’t left empty-handed, and you get to save those sales.
Here are a few things LHS members have had to say about these gift cards:
Since these cards have been a hit in the past, I asked my designers to create a fresh batch of images for you to give to customers during the 2021 holiday season.
Here’s a preview:
Opt-in below to download the complete set of “Your present is on the way” gift card images
The gift cards include images pertaining to both Christmas and Hanukkah along with some generic holiday designs.
If you don’t know if an order will arrive on time for the holidays, just add an image of the item(s) to the “Your present is on the way” gift card and send it to your customers. Let them know they can print or email the gift card image and give it to the intended recipient of their gift as a place-holder until the actual item arrives.
Here’s how the process works on Etsy
- Inside your Shop Manager, go to Orders & Shipping
- Search for orders that aren’t going to arrive in time for the holidays
- Click the message icon on the right
- Type your message in the space provided, something like this…
We’re writing to let you know that your order isn’t likely to arrive in time for the holidays. We’re very sorry about this!
To help, we’ve attached a custom gift card image that includes a photo of your order. You can print out this image or email it to the intended recipient of your gift so he or she isn’t left empty-handed while your order is in transit.
We’re doing everything we can to get your order shipped and delivered as quickly and safely as possible. And in the meantime, we hope this gift card image helps.
Thank you!
- Attach the “Your present is on the way” gift card image and click Send
Here’s how the process works on Amazon
- Inside Seller Central, go to the Orders tab
- Select Manage Orders
- Find the order that you would like to contact the customer about
- Click the name of the customer in the Order Details section
- Select the reason for contacting the customer. You’ll need to choose Other, as this option allows you to include an attachment.
- Complete your message, saying something like…
We’re writing to let you know that your order isn’t likely to arrive in time for the holidays. We’re very sorry about this!
To help, we’ve attached a custom gift card image that includes a photo of your order. You can print out this image or email it to the intended recipient of your gift so he or she isn’t left empty-handed while your order is in transit.
We’re doing everything we can to get your order shipped and delivered as quickly and safely as possible. And in the meantime, we hope this gift card image helps.
Thank you!
- Attach the gift card image
- Review your message and click Send.
I hope these gift cards help reduce the number of cancellations and refunds you get from last-minute shoppers! And if you’d like even more gift card images, you can check out my previous posts below:
Leave a comment and let me know what you think of these gift card images. And if you find them useful, please share this post with your friends and followers!
Thank you RACHEL.
If this does not bring in sales I’ll eat my hat I do not own.
We hope the gift card images help!!
What a fabulous idea – thanks Rachel! As ever, you are going the extra mile. I never would have thought of doing this, but I bet customers LOVE it!
Thanks so much, Joy! :)
Thanks!