If you're running your online store with an eCommerce WordPress theme or other software, it's important to know the key shopping dates for 2013. Shoppers start searching for the perfect gift for special occasions throughout the year like Valentines Day, Mothers Day, Fathers Day and Christmas months ahead of time.
You can use Google Trends to see when consumers begin search for specific products. Google trends is a free tool which enables you to see how often a particular search-term is entered relative to the total search-volume.
If we take Mother's Day in the United States in 2012 (May 13 2012) as an example and look at the data which Google trends presents you can see that consumers started searching for Mother's Day Gifts in March of 2012.
This shows as an eCommerce store owner, it is best to start planning your marketing campaigns well before the day or week of Mother's Day actually takes place as people start hunting around for gifts much before.
Important Shopping Dates of 2013
We've put together a handy list of important shopping dates for 2013 so you can keep on top of your marketing efforts.
March Shopping Dates 2013
- 17 March - St. Patricks
- 31 March - Easter
April Shopping Dates 2013
- 1 April - April Fools
- 22 March - Earth Day
May Shopping Dates 2013
- 5 May - Cinco de Mayo
- 12 May - Mothers Day (US)
- 18 May - Armed Forces Day
- 20 May - Victoria Day (Canada, UK)
- 27 May - Memorial Day
June Shopping Dates 2013
- 14 June - Flag Day (US)
- 16 June - Fathers Day
July Shopping Dates 2013
- 1 July - Canada Day (Canada)
- 4 July - Independence Day (US)
August Shopping Dates 2013
- 5 August - Civic Holiday (Canada)
September Shopping Dates 2013
- 2 September - Labor Day
- 4 September - Rosh Hashanah
- 8 September - Grandparents' Day
- 13 September - Yom Kippur
October Shopping Dates 2013
- 14 October - Columbus Day (US)
- 14 October - Thanksgiving (Canada)
- 31 October - Halloween
November Shopping Dates 2013
- 11 November - Remembrance Day (Canada)
- 11 November - Veterans Day (US)
- 27 November - Hanukkah
- 28 November - Thanksgiving (US)
- 29 November - Black Friday (US)
December Shopping Dates 2013
- 2 December - Cyber Monday
- 24 December - Christmas Eve
- 25 December - Christmas Day
- 26 December - Boxing day (Canada, UK)
- 31 December - New Years Eve
I hope this helps you plan out your marketing activities over the next year for your online store! It might even help you organise some of your blog posts so that they get more traffic. Let us know how you get on and if you think we've missed any dates.
