Best Boxing Day Marketing Tactics with Real-life Examples in 2024

Boxing Day is just around the corner. More than just a post-Christmas tradition, it’s a prime opportunity for eCommerce brands to make a real impact.

With shoppers eagerly hunting for deals, let’s explore the best Boxing Day marketing tactics to stand out from other sellers.

From optimizing your product listings to running effective promotions, our guide will walk you through everything you need. Now, let’s dive in!

Key takeaways in this blog:

• Boxing Day carries a traditional meaning
• The marketing tactics go along with the holiday spirit
• Black Friday and Boxing Day are quite similar to each other

What is the Boxing Day Sale?

Boxing Day Sale, on December 26, is a major shopping event in the UK and Commonwealth countries, offering huge discounts online and in stores.

Boxing Day Sale happens on December 26th. Image source: Freepik

It began as a Victorian tradition of gift-giving. On this day, the upper class gave gifts, often in boxes, to their servants and tradespeople as a token of appreciation for their work throughout the year. These "Christmas boxes" contained goods, money, or other tokens of goodwill.

Historically, the day coincided with St. Stephen's Day, a time for charitable giving. Over time, the focus of Boxing Day shifted from charity to commerce, and now it resembles Black Friday - a golden opportunity for sellers.

Not familiar with the occasion? Let our findings about the Boxing Day Sale introduce itself!

• The UK: The 2024 Boxing Day is expected to generate up to £495.2 million in retail revenue.
• Australia: Consumers spent roughly $24 billion on Boxing Day 2023, a 1.6% increase from 2022.

For sellers, Boxing Day is not just a sales moment but a chance to build relationships with customers and clear inventory. With the right Boxing Day marketing strategies, brands can maximize revenue and end the year on a high note. Keep scrolling through, and we’ll let you know just now!

🤔 Black Friday vs Boxing Day - Are they the same? Yes, they are similar in certain ways. Both are known as sale occasions. However, Black Friday is more popular than Boxing Day, especially in the United States.

What Are the Best Boxing Day Marketing Ideas?

Here comes the most awaited part - 6 Boxing Day marketing ideas tried and tested by experts. Before you dive deep into those practices, we have some key points to share:

• Product sorting will be a big part. Think about what products are best to put on sale post-Christmas and the 2025 retail year.
• Boxing Day Sale is the best time to clear out your inventory.  More than that, you can run the best deals for inventory clearance while maintaining a profit margin.
• Email, social media, and ads will be an ongoing part of online commerce. Make sure you tailor them to your business goals for the upcoming Boxing Day Sale.

That’s for the highlights we want to share with you. Now, let’s get the ball rolling!

1. Plan Boxing Day along with Your Christmas Sales

As mentioned, Boxing Day is celebrated on December 26th and follows right after Christmas, making it a crucial sales moment for online stores. Brands should plan for Boxing Day alongside Christmas to capitalize on the momentum and traffic from the holiday shopping spree.

Looking at some commerce insights, we witnessed that many shoppers delayed purchases until Boxing Day, drawn by significant discounts, as seen in the UK’s 2023 data. In particular, eCommerce sales surged by 51% compared to the previous week, and year-on-year online sales grew by 39%.

On Boxing Day Sale, retailers like M&S and John Lewis kept their brick-and-mortar stores closed on Boxing Day. This act has shifted focus to online platforms where fashion topped the charts as the most sought-after category. If your store is in fashion, you may consider a similar practice.

Furthermore, we highly recommend you start holiday promotions early. According to research by Bankrate, 48% of consumers begin shopping as early as August. To capture the perfect timing, consider planning your Christmas and Boxing Day marketing from August and running it right after Halloween.

Happi Chocolate has already sold out some of their Christmas items by Black Friday. Image source: Happi Chocolate

2. Choose Your Products Wisely

Product sorting is a deciding factor. It’s not simply clearing out what’s left in the warehouse. Like any other retail occasion, you need to identify what would sell well during Boxing Day. Keep in mind that Boxing Day is a significant shopping event that resembles Black Friday - but with a holiday touch.

Products we recommend you put on sale during Boxing Day:

• New Year’s home and party decorations
• Electronics (Even the market leaders like Samsung put on their coolest Boxing Day deals last year - up to £600 for items like TVs, phones, etc.)
• Apparel and accessories (This category always dominates the chart on this occasion, as reported by Statista)
• Fitness equipment (People are going to start their New Year’s resolutions, which guarantees a spot for fitness)

📌 Pro tips for sorting your decor items:

• For home items: Consider placing vintage and nostalgic pieces for your UK audience. This comes from Statista’s report that the UK saw a surge in demand for vintage-inspired ornaments.
• For party items: Put up a theme. Some theme ideas suggested by party lovers are Enchanted Forest, Around the World, Disco Fever, etc.

Items like New Year’s decorations are highly recommended. Image source: Party Pieces

3. Optimize Your Product Listings for Boxing Day Sale

SEO will be a key player in your Boxing Day marketing strategy. As you run an eCommerce store, pay attention to how your product listings rank on Google search results. Typically, for any store to rank well and attract clicks, you need to optimize product listings.

In particular, there are 3 main factors you need to focus on:

Your keyword strategy

First, make sure you’ve sorted out exactly what to put on sale during Boxing (as we mentioned before). Then, choose the most relevant keywords. The keywords have to inform potential customers and Google what you’re trying to sell during the Boxing Day Sale.

For example, if you are selling party customs, there are some particular keywords that you need to rank for, including party hats, banners, or balloons. You have to specify your target keywords so that they match your potential customers’ search intent and eventually appear on the search result pages. Usually, it means you need to generate long-tail keywords like “New Year’s party hats” or “New Year’s party supplies”.

For occasions like Boxing Day, don’t forget to include the term Boxing Day as well. That’s how you identify your keyword strategy and break it down.

📌 Expert tips: If you’ve just started out, you can consider using an SEO-friendly store theme like Sleek. This Shopify theme embraces SEO-friendliness by default and ease of use, making it a perfect match for new sellers.

Sleek demo showcasing a user-friendly and smooth design. Image source: Sleek Demo Store

Your product titles

Once you’ve got your keyword list, insert them into your product titles.

To craft a good product listing titles, we recommend that you:

• Keep the title length from 20 to 70 characters
• Include the main keywords and the term Boxing Day (Don’t stuff keywords if you don’t want to violate Google’s search policies)
• Match your product title and product page title (This creates a strong signal for search engines)

Matching product page titles and product listing titles is vital in SEO. Image source: FoxEcom team

• Add your products’ unique selling points, such as eco-friendly, vintage-inspired, etc.
• Use your brand’s name in the product title

A good product title for your Boxing Day deals may look like this: “Organic Cotton Mattress - Soft & Breathable | Boxing Day Special Deal.”

Besides optimizing your product listings for Boxing Day marketing campaign, don’t forget other SEO practices for your Shopify store, including structured data, categorization, and web performance.

📚 Related Read: You can check out more about Shopify technical SEO tips here.

Your product descriptions

Product descriptions are essential for SEO and driving conversions as you run Boxing Day marketing. As shoppers search for Boxing Day deals, your listings must stand out in both search results and on your site. Here's how to optimize:

• Insert seasonal keywords: Use phrases like “Boxing Day Sale,” “exclusive post-Christmas deals,” or “limited-time Boxing Day deals” to rank for seasonal searches.
• Focus on benefits over features: Explain how the product adds value. For example, “Stay warm this winter with our discounted wool sweaters during Boxing Day Sales.”
• Highlight your readability: Use short sentences, bullet points, and headings to make descriptions scannable. Busy Boxing Day shoppers appreciate clarity.
• Include urgency triggers: Add phrases like “Hurry, sale ends soon!” or “Limited stock for Boxing Day only.”
• Enhance with visuals: Complement descriptions with clear, high-quality images or videos to showcase the product effectively.

Speaking of visuals, here are some stunning product layouts you can refer to:

Lamp - Product template built by Foxify. Image source: Foxify Demo Site

Sport - Product template built by Foxify. Image source: Foxify Demo Site

There are more visually pleasing product layouts for eCommerce brands to refer to in the Foxify Demo Site. Feel free to check them out!

Beyond stunning designs, Foxify - Smart Shopify Page Builder also lets you build SEO-friendly pages. That will work well for your overall Boxing Day marketing campaign. Give it a shot!

4. Kick off Your Best Boxing Day Deals to Clear out Inventory

If you participated in the 2023 Boxing Day Sale, you have probably come across some of these deals:

• John Lewis: Beauty products like the Clinique’s Best of Clinique gift set dropped from £210 to £75.
• Lululemon: Featured markdowns on activewear in their "We Made Too Much" sale.
• Emma: Premium mattresses were discounted by up to 55%.

Emma Boxing Day Sales were up to 55%. Image source: Deal Town

While there were some sweet Boxing Day deals in 2023, we believe 2024 will have even more impressive promotions.

As mentioned, Boxing Day is a great occasion to clear your inventory, and one of the most popular ways is by giving discounts. Speaking of discounts, let us reveal how you can run sales during Boxing Day, clearing your stock without giving all the profit away:

• 30% off for popular items: Give small discounts on products that sell well to attract customers while keeping good profits. For example, lower a $100 item to $70.
• From 40 to 50% off for slow sellers: Offer bigger discounts on items that don’t sell well. A $100 product at $60 clears space and still brings in revenue.
• From 50 to 70% off for seasonal products: Use big discounts on seasonal or outdated items, like winter clothing, to clear them out fast.

What experts think: For Boxing Day, consider giving discounts that scream 50 to 70% and finish your holiday sale season strong.

📌 More pro tip: Use the price anchoring effect by showing the original price next to the discounted price. This makes the deal more attractive and motivates customers to buy.

5. Announce Boxing Day Sale Loud and Clear

We recommend you promote your exclusive Boxing Day deals across multiple platforms. Let’s explore some effective ways to get the word out with their pros and cons:

• Emails
• Pros: Direct, personalized communication with existing customers. High engagement rates when tailored correctly.
• Cons: Requires a well-maintained email list. Risk of being marked as spam if not targeted well.

Lush Cosmetic email on Boxing Day Sale. Image source: DotDigital

• Landing Pages
• Pros: Highly focused, designed to convert visitors with clear calls to action. Great for highlighting sale items and promotions.
• Cons: Requires time to set up, and must be mobile-optimized for better results.

Boohoo sales during Boxing Day in the UK. Image source: Boohoo

✅ Just for you: If you are trying to build a stunning and high-converting landing page, check out Foxify Smart page builder. We offer a range of page-building features, including these highlights:

• Free-form drag-and-drop page builder
• 150+ high-converting and stunning templates
• Fox Magic to compose and translate page content with AI power
• Fox Transfer (newly released feature to copy designs from any web page in milliseconds)

And many more features waiting for you to explore. For those who aren’t ready for something that breaks the bank, go with the Pilot plan. It’s only $1 per month but still comes with the highlights mentioned above.

Try our Pilot plan and explore 100+ templates that convert. Image source: Foxify Christmas Drink Demo

• Social Media
• Pros: Broad reach, especially if using platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Great for building excitement.
• Cons: Requires constant posting and monitoring to maintain engagement.
• Paid Boxing Day advertising
• Pros: Highly targeted ads can reach potential buyers based on demographics, interests, and behaviors.
• Cons: Can be expensive, especially during high-demand seasons like Boxing Day.

Boxing Day ads on Facebook from Super Chewer BarkBox. Image source: BrandBastion

6. Run Loyalty Programs on Boxing Day

Loyalty programs can be a game-changer for your Boxing Day marketing efforts. Retaining loyal customers not only drives consistent sales but can significantly boost your revenue during the holiday season.

According to Forbes, there are several reasons to run a loyalty program on Boxing Day:

• Existing customers are 50% more likely to try your new products. Not to mention, they tend to spend 31% more compared to new customers.
• 70% of consumers are more likely to recommend a brand with good loyalty programs to others, showing they can become your brand advocates.

Some loyalty program ideas you can try:

• Exclusive Boxing Day discounts: Offer your loyalty members special discounts or bonus points for purchases made during Boxing Day.
• Early access: Give loyal customers a chance to shop your Boxing Day Sale a day before it goes live to the general public.
• Bonus rewards: For every purchase made on Boxing Day, provide bonus loyalty points that can be redeemed on future purchases, encouraging customers to return.

🎁 Apps we recommend for Shopify sellers as you run your loyalty programs:

• Ako Marketing: Loyalty & Retargeting. Enjoy an extra 14 days of FREE trial with our promo code FOXECOM14.
• AiT: Loyalty Program, Email +. Enjoy 20% OFF for 1 year with our promo code FoxEcom20.

Boxing Day Marketing - Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a Boxing Day sale in the US?

Boxing Day isn’t really a major retail moment for the US. On this day, people usually exchange or return their purchases.

Is Boxing Day a good day for sales?

Yes, Boxing Day is a good day for sales, especially in the UK and Commonwealth countries (New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Trinidad, and Tobago).

What's the difference between Boxing Day and Black Friday?

Boxing Day vs Black Friday: They are similar to each other in certain ways. Both are great sales occasions for eCommerce brands but in different regions. While Black Friday is popular worldwide, especially in the US, Boxing Day is celebrated in the UK and Commonwealth countries. Comparing these two retail moments, Black Friday is more popular than Boxing Day.

What is the concept of Boxing Day?

Boxing Day has had its name and meaning since the Victorian era. It was originally the day when lords gave their servants gift boxes as a gesture of goodwill.