Marketers: Now is your Moment to Maximize Post-Holiday Momentum

Many marketers invest significant time and money to attract new customers for the winter holidays. But after all that work, what happens to those customers in the new year? By analyzing purchase data from our bank partners, Cardlytics found that now is a critical time to reconnect with customers to build loyalty for the new year.

Most newly acquired holiday customers lapse in Q1 but shop the competition

Across top retailers, over 77% of customers acquired during the holidays didn’t return to the same retailer in the first quarter of the new year. However, on average, 40% of these same lapsed customers spent with the retailer’s competitors in Q1. Retailers looking to hold onto their gains in market share should re-engage these customers this quarter.

New holiday customers drive more value if they come back quickly

When customers acquired during the holiday spent again in Q1, they also drove greater value during the rest of year. These Q1 return customers spent 4.6 times more between Q2-Q4, on average, with that same retailer compared to those who waited until Q2 or later to make their next purchase. The customers who came back in Q1 were also 2.1 times more likely to make a repeat purchase during the rest of the year.

Retain new Holiday customers to grow sales in Q1 & beyond

These next few months present a key opportunity to bring back those hard-won holiday customers and set a strong foundation for this next year. At Cardlytics, we leverage purchase insights to ensure marketers’ ads reach relevant audiences—including customers who made their first purchase during the holidays—and drive measurable sales. Let’s work together now to make the most of your post-holiday sales momentum for a more abundant 2020.