In years past, Halloween has typically been known as the fourth largest holiday shopping day for ecommerce and online retail. In 2017, Halloween alone brought in $3 billion in online sales.
This year, experts, retailers and consumers have seen a shift in ecommerce, with holiday sales and promotions coming in earlier than usual. Amazon’s Prime Day move to October, the new 10.10 shopping festival and Black Friday deals starting earlier could mean more consumers online during this Halloween season than ever before.
So how can you set your ecommerce store apart this particular season? We’ve turned to our customers to find out and found one that knows ecommerce and Halloween well.
Meet Tree Buddees
Tree Buddees is a Michigan-based company that sells originally-designed and hand-painted tree ornaments. When you visit their website, you’ll be greeted with a spooky-themed web design and beautifully hand painted Halloween ornaments.
Founded in 2012, Tree Buddees began as an idea when Scott Davis looked around and noticed that the ornament industry was saturated with traditional ornaments.
“The kind of ornaments that people have been putting on their trees for years,” Scott writes. “I was a first time tree buyer who was interested in something humorous and unique but there seemed to be very few companies that made such ornaments.”
Eight years later, Scott and his team have grown into a brand known for quality, unique and funny ornaments.
“We like to say we're making non-traditional ornaments a tradition.”
Why Halloween ornaments?
“Halloween trees are quickly becoming a popular way to decorate inside your home in October,” Scott writes.
A Halloween tree is exactly what it sounds like — a faux tree typically used during the Christmas season, but in Halloween colors or decorated with Halloween-themed tinsel and, you guessed it, ornaments.
Photo courtesy of Scott Davis
Scott himself enjoys decking out his home for the Halloween season and believed it would be fitting to create and sell Halloween ornaments to his Tree Buddees customers.
Any Tips for Other Ecommerce Business Owners This Season?
Scott suggests making sure your ecommerce store is prepared for the online traffic this year.
“More people will be ordering online than ever before. This means ship times with carriers could easily get backed up.”
In a recent survey by CommerceNext, merchant responders said their biggest concern leading up to the holidays was about shipping carriers.
For Scott, he plans to have orders shipped out within minutes of ordering.
“I would suggest having a system in place to ensure timely processing of your orders.”
On Packaging Orders and the Customer Experience
“We want our customers to experience a wow factor when purchasing from us, from the time they order to the time they put their new ornament on the tree.”
“All of our orders ship out with candy canes or Halloween candy and holiday themed packing paper. Branded boxes with branded packing tape help for our company to stand out from the crowd.”
Photo courtesy of Scott Davis
It’s not just the packaging that makes Tree Buddees stand out. Each ornament they offer is hand drawn before production, then hand painted with care.
Scott and the Tree Buddees team not only created a fun and creative way to fill a customer need of holiday decorations, but also knew the value of a good customer experience. That’s why they take pride and care with packaging and shipping their product.
“We want our customers to love both their new decoration and the experience of unboxing it.”
What to Expect From Tree Buddees in the Future
As the Halloween season closes, you can expect to see a website shift into the Christmas season.
“TreeBuddees.com loves to remain timely. We change our website theme with every season. We currently have a Halloween theme, our next preparations will be to have our site decked out with Christmas cheer as we move from Halloween to Christmas.”
Photo courtesy of Scott Davis
And we can’t wait to check back for more fun and unique ornaments!