How to Keep Sales from Dropping After Christmas

Every year, businesses enter January with concern: seasonal sales decline sets in. After heavy Christmas spending, people tighten their budgets and focus on essentials — food, personal care, medicine.

Most other categories dip during this period, especially gift-driven ones. That’s why brands need a clear customer retention strategy before the slowdown begins.

This article breaks down ways to keep your audience engaged when sales fall and looks at real campaign examples.

What Matters During a Sales Slowdown

The post-holiday lull is a predictable dip you can plan for ahead of time. Your marketing team should have an action plan for both digital and in-store channels so the slowdown hits as lightly as possible. In a slower season, the worst move is to go quiet — keep communication steady, even if it’s lighter than usual. Define:

• Clear goals for the slower season, using last year’s performance as your baseline
• The messaging and offers you’ll run
• The channels you’ll prioritize, like email, SMS, push notifications, and messaging apps
• The retention tactics you’ll rely on

Results come from the full marketing system, not a single promo. Brands with strong awareness and loyal customers tend to hold up better in the off-season. A couple of random emails without a sequence, segmentation, and regular touchpoints rarely move the needle — you need steady, coordinated work across every customer touchpoint.

Altcraft Platform can help you organize your marketing workflow, automate data collection, and stay in touch with customers. It brings scattered customer data — purchases, on-site behavior, and engagement with emails and messaging — into a single unified profile. It also brings your channels together in one interface — email, SMS, push notifications, and messaging apps — so you can launch personalized journeys and omnichannel sequences. You can sign up for a free platform walkthrough here.

How to Protect Retention After Christmas

There are plenty of ways to keep customers buying even during a seasonal slowdown. The key is to align marketing with your broader business plan and growth goals.

Keep the Sale Going

Send subscribers a post-Christmas message — and give them a reason to come back with extended discounts. Another advantage: inboxes and other channels are usually less crowded in January than they are in the holiday rush. While competitors go quiet, take the opportunity to stay visible and keep sales moving.

Gift Cards

It’s best to promote gift cards before the holidays, so people can use them during their time off. Gift cards don’t just drive immediate revenue — they also bring in new customers who received a card and haven’t shopped with you before. And in many cases, the final purchase ends up higher than the card value, with shoppers paying the difference out of pocket.

Choose gift card amounts that fit your price point. For lower-cost products, you might start around $10–$25. If your items are higher-ticket, offer larger denominations — think $100–$200+, or more depending on your typical order size.

How to Surprise Customers on Their Birthday? We shared ideas here.

Installment Plans or Financing

In January, many people tighten their budgets. Offering installment payments or low-interest financing can boost both loyalty and sales — especially for higher-priced items. Keep the process simple: no long waits, no complicated applications. And don’t strip away the usual perks — standard shipping, returns, and exchanges should still apply.

January is also a classic “fresh start” season. You can build a campaign around financing as a way to finally buy the thing someone’s been putting off — the upgrade or “dream” purchase they’ve wanted for a long time but didn’t feel ready to spend on.

Big Discounts and Stronger Rewards

Cutting prices by 50% or more can be a powerful trigger — even after heavy December spending. Make the campaign limited-time or limited-quantity so it creates urgency and taps into the fear of missing out. This approach works especially well for clearing out leftover inventory and older collections.

If you have a loyalty program, consider temporarily boosting the benefits after the holidays. For example, offer double points on purchases made in January and February.

Advertising

Run retargeting ads so shoppers see the products they viewed earlier. Combined with discounts and financing offers, this can be a strong nudge back to purchase.

In your email and SMS campaigns, highlight items customers saved to favorites or left in their cart. With marketing automation in place, these messages run year-round — not just during peak season — and help keep sales steady.

Seasonal Content

Here you’re not selling directly — you’re building engagement in a way that feels natural. Use useful, entertaining content to stay top of mind. Classic January angles include getting back into a routine after the holidays, sharing highlights from the break, and the “fresh start” mindset.

You can also give people ideas for how to spend their weekends and offer ready-to-use options — free downloads, webinars, mini-courses, and more. These kinds of value-first “gifts” build loyalty and keep your product in the conversation.

“New Year, New You” Email Campaigns

January is its own category. Brands can lean into the “fresh start” mindset and support customers who want to build new habits or learn something new — for example, by promoting your courses, programs, or guided challenges.

New Arrivals

Refreshing your lineup is another way to keep interest up during a slow season. New arrivals naturally grab attention — and some shoppers love being the first to try something new. January is a great time to launch because many people are rethinking their habits, style, and everyday routines, so “updates” and “upgrades” feel especially on-theme.

Make sure the assortment stays relevant. You can also start warming customers up for spring and summer — especially in travel and tourism, where people often plan trips well in advance.

Personalization

Use customer data to create individualized offers. Add relevant discounts, early access to exclusive sales, and targeted coupons to your email and SMS campaigns. Build a personalized product roundup based on each person’s preferences. Reward loyalty with small gifts — or seasonal freebies that fit the post-holiday vibe.

Challenges, Giveaways, and Contests

A great way to re-energize your audience after the holidays is to run a challenge, a short “reset” series, or a contest. Winners can get prizes, and everyone else can receive time-limited discounts — which creates urgency. This strategy boosts engagement, brand awareness, and sales, and it can attract new customers.

Other Holidays

After the holidays, there are still plenty of moments to market around — starting with Valentine’s Day. Depending on your product, you can also use lighter “calendar” hooks like National Popcorn Day (Jan 19) or National Coffee Break Day (Jan 20). And don’t forget Lunar New Year (late January or early February, date varies), which can support themed collections, gift ideas, or limited-time offers when it’s relevant to your audience.

Some are simple: add a themed offer or discount. Others can support a full campaign. Valentine’s Day, for example, is something people plan for — so remind subscribers early and share gift ideas or curated recommendations.

Partner Programs

Collaborations and co-branded campaigns give you access to new audiences and bring in additional customers. The key is choosing partners that make sense together. For example, a gym and an athletic apparel store could run a joint January promo — or extend it through the winter.

Co-marketing is also a built-in news hook and a solid way to stay visible when demand is softer.

Summary

A post-holiday sales dip is a predictable part of the early-year cycle. The key is to plan ahead to limit the hit to revenue — by mapping out your assortment and your marketing campaigns in advance. Beyond discounts, extended sales, and bonus offers, you can use giveaways, challenges, and limited-time promos, plus attractive financing or installment options. Many brands also run email and SMS content around the topics customers care about in January — how to make the most of time off, get back into a routine, and lean into a “fresh start.” Add personalization, partner campaigns, and marketing tied to other early-year holidays to keep demand moving even in a slower season.

The article was originally published here.