Leap Day: A unique eCommerce opportunity

Did you know that 2020 is a Leap Year? This means that February will have 29 days instead of the usual 28. But, what does this have to do with eCommerce businesses and retailers? A lot. A Leap Day is an additional opportunity to build a strong relationship with your customers. Being an unusual date, – leap days occur every four years – is an excellent chance to increase traffic to your website by creating a promotional strategy around it. Let’s take a look.

To avoid being seen as too “salesly”, try to be extra creative and have some fun with your promotions. The possibilities of promoting this date and, at the same time, attracting traffic and users to your business include all your communication channels. From creating a special promotion on your website to create a social media competition around this date.

If you need some inspiration, here are some fun facts around Leap Day:

• For the first time since 1992, Leap Day will fall on a Saturday
• Those born on February 29th will be able to celebrate their birthdays for the first time in four years
• February 29th, also known as leap day is a date added to most years that are divisible by 4, such as 2016, 2020, and 2024
• Leap days can present a particular problem in computing known as the Leap year bug, when February 29th is not handled correctly in logic that accepts or manipulates dates

Be as unique as this day with these ideas

The idea behind this day is to have some fun with your customers while attracting traffic to your website. Take advantage of the unexpected. Taking your users by surprise by celebrating and creating promotions during this day will have that extra layer of novelty, that will help with the traffic, engagement and overall results of your Leap Day Campaign:

29 products on sale for this day only

If you are looking to reach the final clearance sale of your winter products or items that aren’t very popular on your website, create a special promotion for Leap Day. To make it even more appealing, add only 29 items to the list to follow the day topic. As unusual as it sounds, your customers will probably have the urge or curiosity to take a look at that list and eventually purchase something from it.

Another option is to mix things up, include some best sellers on the list to attract more users and to get better results. Promote this list in your homepage and create a panel of product recommendations related to this selection. Add a clock in your website to have a sense of urgency and to wake up the “Fomo”. Be creative to get some extra revenue out of this day.

29% off on selected items

Instead of creating a list with you winter clearance sale, how about offering an additional 29% off? It seems a bit risky, but the idea is to follow the uniqueness of the day and take a “Leap of Faith”. Discount coupons are one of the most effective ways to increase traffic and revenue. Besides, they are also an excellent strategy to grab the attention of your dormant customers. Combine the two segments to get even more sales this day. Apply the discount to selected items on your website for your regulars and new customers. And also, send an email campaign to your inactive subscribers with a 29% off code valid only during this day.

Send an email campaign at 2:29 that day

Email marketing accounts for 7% of all e-commerce transactions, making it one of the most effective marketing channels behind organic search. Use this day as an excuse to promote your Leap Day clearance sale or the additional 29% off on selected items. How to make it even more special? Send the campaign at 2:29 that day and include some push notifications. The small details are the ones that will make your brand stand from the crowd. Another idea is to create a different design for this communication adding some animations, different colours and interactive call-to-actions. The Leap Day is unique, so make yours unforgettable.

Social media competition: Looking for the 29th

Social media competitions are also another way to improve engagement with your customers, and Leap Day is the perfect occasion for one of these contest. Do you have a follower whose birthday is on February 29th? What about increase your audience size by invite new followers to your Instagram account and give a prize to your 29th follower of that day? If these ideas sound too specific, invite your followers to send you pictures of their unique celebrations for this unique day. User-generated content is another great way to improve your brand awareness and your relationship with your customers.