12 holiday promotion ideas to grow your end-of-year sales
By Kathryn Casna●12 min. read●Oct 20, 2025
The holiday season is crucial for businesses to boost sales. With consumers ready to spend, it's the perfect time for creative promotional strategies. But standing out in the crowded holiday marketplace can be challenging.
Effective holiday promotions drive sales and foster customer loyalty. They offer unique incentives and memorable experiences, attracting new customers and encouraging repeat business.
Holiday sales are big business. This year, consumers are expected to spend an average of $1,595, down 10% from last year. Nearly all (89% of) shoppers plan to look for deals this season.
In this article, we'll explore 12 effective holiday promotion ideas to help you maximize your end-of-year sales and share some tips for success long after December.
12 holiday promotion ideas
From early bird offers to social media contests, these strategies are designed to drive conversions during the busiest shopping season.
Early bird offers
Best used when: you have strong inventory management systems and margins that can support graduated discounting.
Early bird offers can generate up to 80% of your total holiday sales before Cyber Monday, according to PwC research. They create urgency, spread out sales volume, and provide predictable cash flow when you need it most — before major holiday expenses hit.
Consider tiered discounts that decrease over time:
Start with 30% off in late November
Drop to 20% in early December
End with 10% in late December
This incentivizes early purchases while still rewarding later shoppers. Another plus: Early bird offers help to manage inventory and reduce last-minute rushes.
Give back to your customers
Best used when: you have an existing customer base to activate and can offer meaningful rewards that incentivize repeat purchases without excessive cost.
Holiday loyalty programs deliver measurable returns: Loyalty points redeemers spend 4.3x more than other consumers, making this one of the most cost-effective ways to boost holiday sales and long-term customer value.
Consider these high-ROI approaches:
Implement special holiday bonus points or rewards for existing loyalty members
Offer double or triple points on purchases made before a specific date to drive urgency
Create exclusive early access to sales for loyalty members
Gift with purchase
Best used when: your margins can support the cost of the free item, and you have inventory you want to move.
Global Shopify average order value (AOV) sits between $85 and $92, but offering a free gift with purchase is a powerful way to increase average order value and provide added value to customers.
The key is smart threshold setting:
Analyze your current average order value
Set the gift threshold 30-40% above your AOV to encourage meaningful upsells
Choose complementary gifts that showcase other products in your lineup or provide genuine utility
Free gift wrap
Best used when: you can streamline the operational process to avoid bottlenecks.
Free gift wrapping and messaging attracts time-strapped shoppers — just ask Nordstrom and Williams-Sonoma, which have long used this tactic because it differentiates their brand in competitive markets while adding minimal operational cost. It also creates a positive first impression, increases satisfaction and loyalty, and generates social media buzz as customers post photos of beautiful wrap jobs.
Offer eco-friendly options for environmentally conscious consumers. You can even use custom wrapping paper with your logo for extra brand visibility.
Discounts
Best used when: your margins can absorb the discount and you have clear goals (clearing seasonal inventory, acquiring new customers, driving volume).
While discounts are a common holiday promotion tactic, they can be highly effective when implemented strategically. In 2025, 80% of holiday shoppers expect higher prices due to economic factors, and 34% say they’ll take advantage of more deals in 2025 than they did last year.
Consider tiered discounts based on purchase amount:
10% off orders over $50
15% off over $100
20% off over $150
This approach encourages larger purchases and rewards your best customers without uniform margin erosion. You can also bundle products at a perceived discount rather than slashing individual item prices — bundles protect brand value while still delivering savings. However, carefully avoid constant discounting that trains customers to never pay full price.
Referrals
Best used when: you have satisfied customers willing to advocate for your brand, and you can deliver rewards quickly.
The holiday season amplifies referral effectiveness because people are already in gift-giving mode and actively recommending products to friends and family. So leverage your existing customers through referral programs. Offer incentives for both the referrer and the new customer to boost your customer base and sales.
Referrals are incredibly powerful. According to research:
86% of consumers find recommendations and reviews important in purchasing decisions
Referred customers convert 5x faster than customers acquired through other means
Referred customers are 31%-57% more likely to refer someone else
Make the referral process as simple as possible. Using a platform like Tremendous makes it easy to send rewards at scale and ensures timely reward delivery for your customers.
Free shipping
Best used when: you can either absorb shipping costs into your pricing structure or when the increase in conversion rates and order values offsets the shipping expense.
Free shipping motivates online shoppers. According to FedEx, 81% of shoppers add more items to their order to get free shipping. Meanwhile, 39% of shoppers abandon online carts due to unexpected extra costs like shipping charges.
You can offer free shipping:
On all orders during peak shopping days
Above a certain purchase amount
As a limited-time promotion to create urgency
Factor shipping costs into pricing or set a minimum purchase threshold. Leverage free shipping as a limited-time promotion to create urgency.
Gift guide content
Best used when: you have sufficient product variety to create meaningful categories and can invest time in SEO optimization.
Gift guides serve dual purposes: they drive organic traffic and reduce decision fatigue for overwhelmed shoppers. 44% of shoppers search online for gift inspiration, and you want your guide to pop up when they do.
Create holiday gift guides to help customers navigate your offerings — then segment them:
By recipient type (gifts for mom, gifts for coworkers, gifts for teens)
By price point (under $25, $25-$50, luxury gifts over $100)
By interest or hobby (gifts for runners, gifts for home chefs, gifts for tech enthusiasts)
Host your gift guides on your company website and optimize for relevant SEO keywords. This will drive organic traffic to your site as a result. Take a look at our Employee Holiday Gift Ideas as an example.
Promote your guides across multiple channels to reach as many of your customers as possible. You could also partner with influencers to maximize your reach and acquire new customers.
Promote local businesses
Best used when: you have strong community ties and can authentically connect with local values.
Local marketing drives community loyalty and taps into the growing "shop local" movement. Consumers have spent more than $200 billion during Small Business Saturday since 2012, often with businesses in their area.
To maximize your campaign:
Partner with complementary nearby businesses for cross-promotional gift bundles
Participate in community events like Small Business Saturday, local holiday markets, or downtown shopping nights
Create "shop local" campaigns that emphasize community investment
Offer exclusive in-store experiences that online retailers can't match
Holiday contests on social media
Best used when: you have an engaged social following and can offer prizes valuable enough to drive participation but aligned enough with your brand to attract relevant customers.
Social media contests generate engagement at a fraction of traditional advertising costs. Consider this: 70% of TikTok users find new brands and products on the app, and 1 in 3 users have bought a product because they saw it on TikTok.
Contests and sweepstakes are among the most cost-effective customer acquisition tactics because you can pool resources into one compelling prize rather than numerous small incentives.
Remember to:
Create themed contests encouraging user-generated content
Offer attractive prizes to incentivize participation
Create engaging social media posts that entice
Host holiday events
Best used when: you can create authentic value for attendees and have staff capacity to execute well. Poor execution damages your brand, so ensure you can deliver a quality experience before committing to an event strategy.
Holiday spending is likely to dip in 2025, but PwC notes that consumers still prize holiday rituals and retail therapy. Hosting a holiday event can help your business be a part of both.
Consider events like:
A holiday shopping night with exclusive discounts
A gift-wrapping workshop
A virtual cooking class featuring holiday recipes
In-store events are a great way to drive foot traffic, but you may have an even better ROI with low-cost virtual events. Either way, these events can help build community around your brand.
Gift cards for customers who spend a certain amount
Best used when: you have healthy margins that can support the incentive and want to build a pipeline of return visits for the new year.
Offer gift cards as rewards for high-value purchases. For example, give a $20 gift card for every $100 spent. This boosts current sales and drives future visits. According to Capital One, 61% of consumers spend $31.75 more than the value of the gift card when redeeming.
The key is setting gift card amounts and thresholds that encourage future purchases without draining your bottom line too much. Use these strategies
Set thresholds at 2-3x your average order value to meaningfully increase transaction sizes
Tier the rewards (spend $100 get $20, spend $200 get $50) to encourage even larger purchases
Make redemption frictionless to ensure customers actually use the cards
Examples of powerful holiday marketing campaigns
Holiday marketing can make or break your end-of-year sales, but some campaigns rise above the rest, driving long-term revenue and brand recognition.
Kohl's holiday season success
Kohl's hit it out of the park during the 2017 holiday season. They reported a 6.9% increase in sales at stores open at least one year for the combined November and December period. This impressive growth outpaced competitors like Target and JC Penney, who saw a more modest 3.4% bump in 2016.
The success wasn't a fluke. It was the result of several well-executed promotional strategies.
Kohl's has created a Holiday Gift List, simplifying the often-stressful holiday shopping experience. They also offered strategic discounts and deals throughout the season, encouraging customers to come back and capitalize on new opportunities to save. This holistic approach to holiday promotions set Kohl's apart in a crowded retail landscape.
Starbucks' red cup campaign
Launched in 1997, Starbucks' Red Cup Campaign has grown from a simple promotion to a cultural phenomenon. The concept is straightforward but incredibly effective: customers who order a handcrafted holiday beverage on Red Cup Day get a free reusable cup. Customers can bring the cup back to their local Starbucks for discounts on future purchases.
The reusable cup is inexpensive, appeals to eco-conscious consumers, and taps into the holiday spirit of giving and sustainability. And Red Cup Day delivers results year after year. In 2022, Red Cup Day was Starbucks' highest sales day ever in company history. The campaign has led to millions of new Starbucks Rewards loyalty program sign-ups.
Key takeaways
Holiday promotions are a great way to boost EOY sales and foster customer loyalty. From early bird offers to social media contests, there are numerous strategies businesses can employ to stand out during the busy holiday season. The key is to create promotions that provide value to customers while aligning with your brand and business goals.
Remember to start planning your holiday promotions early, measure their effectiveness, and be prepared to adjust your strategies as needed. Even without a multi-million dollar budget, you can leverage holiday promotions to boost your bottom line just like Kohl's and Starbucks.
As we've seen, referral programs and incentives can be particularly powerful during the holiday season. They tap into the gift-giving spirit and can turn your existing customers into brand advocates. Implementing a well-designed rewards system can significantly amplify the impact of your holiday promotions, driving both immediate sales and long-term customer loyalty.
Beyond choosing the right promotions, successful holiday marketing requires strategic execution. It helps to understand the mindset of holiday shoppers, especially the beharios of different generations.
Make your campaigns omnichannel, because that’s how your customer experience holiday shopping. And promote with caution. You don’t want to undercut your revenue or your brand value. Finally, look beyond the holidays and ask, how will this promotion help my business long after the decorations come down?
Ready to supercharge your holiday promotions with seamless reward distribution? Sign up for Tremendous today or book a demo to see how our platform can amplify your holiday marketing efforts.
