ClickZ Stationery - 11.28.2024

PLUS: Faber-Castell’s display strategy boosts holiday conversions

Author

Sophie Bruxner-Randall
November 28, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 7 minutes

ClickZ Stationery is your essential newsletter for stationery e-commerce professionals. This Thanksgiving, with Black Friday just hours away, we’re here to help your campaigns write success and your sales soar!

Guest At the Table 🍴

Black Friday is here, and for many brands, the hard work is done—you’ve set the stage and prepared for the biggest shopping event of the year. But as I’ve seen time and time again, the brands that succeed now are the ones that obsess over the right metrics and adapt quickly to what’s happening in real time. Here are two key areas I believe every marketer should focus on to maximize success this Black Friday:

1️⃣ Benchmarking

Benchmarks are your compass. They don’t just show how well campaigns are performing—they reveal opportunities to improve as the data rolls in. From CPMs to order volumes, understanding how your results stack up against industry benchmarks will help you refine your approach and stay competitive.

Looking ahead to 2025? Post-BFCM benchmarking will be invaluable, and Fospha’s next report will include fresh data to help you plan for the future. Follow us to make sure you don’t miss it. 📊

2️⃣ Measurement

Still relying on Last Click attribution? It’s holding you back. At the most competitive time of year, top brands are using advanced measurement tools to stay ahead of the curve. Fospha gives you a clear, cross-channel view of YoY performance, enabling you to act on the right signals—not misleading ones.

The insights you gather now can set you up for a strong 2025. If you’re ready to take your measurement strategy to the next level, there’s no better time to start than today.

🌟 Let’s make this Black Friday your most successful yet!

Harvest Highlights 🥕

The Kaweco Classic Sport Piston Filler offers an affordable alternative to the AL Sport, maintaining the same ink capacity and smooth writing experience. Key features like a lightweight design, optional clip, and ink window set it apart, appealing to collectors and casual users alike. For e-commerce marketers in the stationery industry, this model highlights the potential of blending functionality with affordability, providing opportunities to target price-conscious consumers while emphasizing unique design features in product listings to drive conversion.

Castlegate Stationers in West Yorkshire has introduced a striking new display for Faber-Castell highlighters, facilitated by distributor Stone Marketing. Owner Nish Kanabar reports strong customer interest and a boost in sales as the holiday season nears. The competitively priced highlighters are positioned as ideal gifts, highlighting the effectiveness of curated displays and strategic pricing in maximizing seasonal sales opportunities for stationery retailers.

Manuscript Brands has added Castle Claret and Thames Blue to the Tom Hessin Charles Collection, seamlessly blending heritage with contemporary design. Each pen embodies the brand’s storied history, offering a timeless writing experience that appeals to collectors and gift buyers alike. Marketing head Alex Beaman emphasizes the collection’s potential as a premium legacy gift, showcasing how heritage-focused products can be strategically positioned to attract discerning customers in the e-commerce stationery market.

The Dallas Total Home & Gift Market, January 8-14, 2025, will showcase new products, expanded showrooms, and networking events. Highlights include expert-led seminars, the debut of the Textile Salon, and the prestigious ARTS Awards. This event fosters community and growth for retailers and designers, offering insights into industry trends.

  • Innovative Products: Figboot on Pens unveils the Dracula-inspired Estie, while A Gathering of Curiosities explores Kilk's Istanbul-crafted designs. Stationery Pizza examines the versatility of Travelers Notebooks, and A Fleeting Ripple reviews advancements in Pelikan rollerball technology.

  • Creative Marketing Ideas: Olive Octopus offers repurposing tips for cleaning and testing, and Pen Addict promotes personalized stationery discounts to enhance customer loyalty.

  • Strategic Market Insights: T.G.S.’s 2024 Holiday Gift Guide focuses on timely delivery trends and features new arrivals like the Kaweco Classic Sport Piston Filler and Diamine’s 160th Anniversary Inks. The T.G.S. Patreon provides exclusive shop access and marketing strategies, offering a model for community building and customer engagement.

This curated content underscores the importance of product innovation, strategic marketing, and customer-focused insights for stationery e-commerce success.

Feast of Influence 🥧

Tara Jackson on LinkedIn: It’s one of best weeks of the year for so many #ecommerce brands but it does also mark one of the busiest periods of the year 

Here are 3 key stats that we pulled from Black Friday last year: 

🤯 Record online spending: In 2023, U.S. consumers spent over $9 billion online on Black Friday alone
📲 Mobile shopping surge with over 50% of all Black Friday online sales in 2023 coming from mobile devices — the easiest way for people to shop these days 
📈 Growth in 'Buy Now, Pay Later' especially for larger purchases, showing that more shoppers are spreading the cost of their holiday spending.  

Jake Abrams on LinkedIn: Harsh DTC growth truth: 

Optimizing your 7DC Meta CPA is only half the job. 

- You need to build the ecosystem of people who know you
- You need to get tastemakers to hype you
- You need to seriously grow 1 organic channel
- You need answer every objection on your site
- You need to delight customers & get them to come back

STOP treating growth like a transactional sales funnel.
START building a brand that your audience knows, trusts, and loves.

James Gray on LinkedIn: The reactions to Jaguar and Spurs’ (expensive) rebrands this week been pretty negative…

Spurs removed the only title they've had and Jag, well, some commentary suggests they've essentially pivoted and become a new vegan cosmetics brand targeting Gen-Z... thoughts?

The Golden Gobbler 🍗

Retailers are adapting to a shorter holiday season by starting sales earlier, with major players like Amazon and Walmart leading the charge. Despite fewer days between Black Friday and Christmas, sales are expected to rise. Consumers are shopping both online and in stores, with economic factors influencing behavior.

Dynamic Search Ads remain crucial in Google Ads strategies, even with Performance Max campaigns. They offer targeted control over ad descriptions and website sections. Regular optimization and strategic setup uncover new keyword opportunities, enhancing main search campaigns. 

TikTok Shop is experiencing a record-breaking festive season in the UK, with trends in pre-loved luxury, beauty, fragrances, and appliances. LIVE shopping sessions and trending hashtags like #TikTokShopBlackFriday are driving engagement. The platform anticipates significant growth in advertising spend, enhancing its retail impact this Christmas.

ClickZ is a Contentive publication in the DTC Ecommerce division