The holiday busy season isn’t complete without the surge of shoppers who delayed purchases, forgot a gift, or are still hunting for the perfect item for someone special. Supporting last-minute shoppers as the holiday season draws to a close not only increases sales; it also shows your customers that you truly care about them, even if they waited until the eleventh hour to complete their holiday shopping. While last-minute shopping can create chaos in your store, many businesses report significant sales increases in the week leading up to Christmas (Reuters). By planning and preparing for increased traffic and last-minute requests in the days leading up to the holidays, you can serve those Christmas shopping stragglers with less stress and more festive cheer.

Understand What Last Minute Shoppers Need

According to the Google Holiday Shopping Survey, seventy-six percent of holiday shoppers go to local stores for last-minute gifts. Often, these shoppers share common urgency, desire for convenience, and stress. When your customers are in a rush to find the perfect gift, understanding their shopping behavior helps you close hassle-free sales quickly and efficiently.  SurveyMonkey reports that shoppers are often looking for shopping experiences that are not overwhelming or overcrowded. By reflecting on past busy holiday seasons and the year-round shopping season, you can better identify potential crowding, clutter, or pain points in the shopping experience.

Walk through your storefront with the mindset of a customer, consider what your customers want and need, and how you can make adjustments to the shopping experience to improve the last-minute shopping experience.

Your staff is another valuable resource for understanding what last-minute shoppers need to succeed. Ask your team what shopping behaviors they have noticed, questions they have been asked, and how they would feel as a shopper in your store. Any trends, insights, and feedback you can gather on how best to serve last-minute shoppers will help you prepare your business for the hectic few days before the festivities begin.

Simplify the Options

Last-minute shoppers do not have time to get caught up comparing options. Streamlining choices and highlighting a few reliable, gift-ready options helps them make confident decisions quickly. Consider promoting gift cards to last-minute shoppers to eliminate the hassle of picking a gift altogether (ZenBusiness).

Showcase last-minute shopper favorites, such as gift bundles and best sellers, in prominent locations to reduce customer search time. In addition to placing fan favorites in easy-to-access locations, consider categorizing your shelves by shopper-friendly themes such as “Stocking Stuffers,” “Gifts Under $50,” or “Last-Minute Favorites.” This helps customers find gifts that fit their needs and budget without extensive searching.  

By adding signage with product details, labels, and reviews, you help customers make quick yet informed purchasing decisions while helping them feel excited about what they are purchasing. Finally, by offering pre-bundled gifts or ready-to-go solutions, you eliminate decision fatigue and make last-minute shopping feel simple and stress-free for customers.

Engage With Last-Minute Shoppers

When time is tight and pressure is high, your staff plays a key role in limiting stress and engaging last-minute shoppers. Staff interactions are often one of the most impactful touchpoints for customers. Training your team to be cheerful and helpful creates a shopping environment that turns last-minute pressure into a positive shopping experience.

Staff can better engage last-minute shoppers by greeting them, asking a few targeted questions about their needs, and quickly offering guidance and ready-to-go recommendations (Small Business Trends). By anticipating urgency and maintaining a calm and knowledgeable presence, employees help shoppers make faster decisions while reducing stress for both customers and staff.

Communicate Proactively

During the last-minute holiday rush, keep spirits bright by clearly communicating key information before the busy season begins. Share updates on store hours, inventory, ordering deadlines, and expected wait times across all customer touchpoints, including in-store signage, online, and on social media (don’t forget also to post this information in your Find Local profile). Providing this communication helps customers better plan their visits and reduces frustration.

Encourage shoppers to complete purchases promptly by leveraging urgency messaging in your communications (Upsellit). Highlight low-stock, countdowns, or last-chance reminders to motivate customers to visit your store before time runs out. Through clear yet urgent communication, you give customers a smoother, more informed holiday shopping experience.

Conclusion

Preparing for last-minute holiday shoppers after the busy season can transform potential chaos into a smoother, more successful experience for customers. It also helps your business boost end-of-year revenue. Some key takeaways to consider when optimizing your store for last-minute holiday shoppers include:

• Last-minute shoppers value speed, convenience, and low-stress experiences. Gather feedback and reflect what customers are looking for in a shopping experience to best remove pain points. 
• Highlight gift cards, bundles, and best sellers online and in-store to help shoppers make quick and confident decisions.
• Reduce shopper stress by training your staff to provide recommendations and guidance to customers making last-minute purchases.
• Clear communication, paired with urgent wording, keeps customers informed and encourages timely purchases.