The holiday season is a critical time for small to midsize businesses (SMBs), as sales during this period often make up a large portion of their yearly revenue. Yet, many SMBs don’t devote extra hours or resources to preparing for the surge in holiday demand, and that lack of attention to seasonal preparations is holding them back.
According to one of our most recent surveys, 70 percent of SMBs don’t dedicate additional time to getting their websites ready for the holidays. This likely contributes to the fact that only 10 percent of their overall site traffic comes during the holiday season. With holiday shoppers increasingly buying online every year, this lack of preparation is a gap SMBs can’t afford. Fortunately, artificial intelligence (AI) tools offer an accessible way for small businesses to compete during this important season without a huge time or resource investment.
Challenge: Invest Time to Match Holiday Demand
For most SMBs, time is a limited resource, and scaling up efforts for the holiday season can be challenging. Many business owners are already stretched thin between daily operations, customer management and logistics, leaving little room for additional tasks like optimizing a website or launching holiday-specific marketing campaigns. While big retailers can hire seasonal staff and dedicate entire departments to marketing and website optimization, SMBs often lack that level of bandwidth.
This gap in holiday readiness means SMBs miss out on an opportunity to connect with customers during the busiest shopping period of the year. The reluctance to invest time and energy in holiday-specific digital efforts leaves SMBs behind as online shopping traffic increases. And with the holiday season now extending across several weeks — beginning as early as October and lasting through the end of December — the impact of missed website traffic becomes even more significant.
The AI Opportunity: Enhancing Efficiency Without Adding Extra Work
While SMB owners may not have time to spend on lengthy holiday preparations, they can use AI tools to automate and streamline much of the work required to improve website functionality and attract more holiday traffic. AI tools are now more accessible and affordable than ever and can help SMBs level the playing field with their larger competitors by handling tasks that would otherwise take significant time and expertise.
Despite these advantages, the adoption rate for AI by SMBs remains low, with 74 percent of SMBs still not using AI to aid operations. However, those that are beginning to explore AI see real potential: 40 percent of SMBs anticipate better site functionality, 37 percent see increased traffic and 31 percent recognize timesaving advantages. By adopting AI-powered tools, SMBs can enjoy several key benefits that allow them to better handle holiday traffic demands without straining their already limited resources.
SMBs looking to maximize their holiday sales potential should seek tools such as AI-powered website builders that streamline the website-building process.
Automated Website Creation
One of the best ways SMBs can take advantage of AI is through automated website creation. AI tools can help users generate domain name suggestions for their website by simply providing a description of their business, from which the AI can generate a comprehensive list of unique and relevant domain names for users to choose from. This is especially helpful for SMBs that are just getting started.
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For those that lack graphic design expertise and don’t have the funds to hire a graphic designer, AI tools can also be a major boon, helping SMB owners create a professional brand logo for their business based on user input, as well as holiday themed images perfect for the season via AI image generators.
AI-powered content writers can help SMBs create engaging and informative content for their websites by generating copy in a variety of formats such as blog posts, social media and other digital marketing assets. SMBs should look for AI builders that allow users to customize the tone, length and language of the content to match their brand voice.
Increased Holiday Sale Opportunities
SMBs are always looking to improve the customer shopping experience while boosting revenue, especially during the holiday season. Targeted promotions and discounts can attract customers looking for deals, especially around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. In fact, recent statistics show that sales and discounts lead to 88 percent of impulse purchases.
With AI, SMBs can now create, test and optimize marketing campaigns with minimal manual intervention. AI-powered platforms analyze customer preferences, allowing businesses to target their campaigns more effectively. By automating and personalizing campaigns and sales, SMBs can reach the right customers with the right offers.
Embracing AI for Long-Term Success
In today’s fast-evolving digital landscape, SMBs that embrace AI will have a competitive edge. The holiday season presents a great opportunity for SMBs to leverage the power of AI to boost sales, streamline operations and improve customer experiences. Getting an early start on integrating AI into their operations will allow SMBs to not only benefit in the short term but also lay the groundwork for long-term success.
By investing in AI tools this holiday season, SMBs can meet the demands of busy holiday shoppers while saving time, money and energy and position themselves for sustainable growth. With the right online solutions partner and AI tools bolstering their business strategy, small businesses can thrive in ways that were once only available to larger players, setting themselves up for success not just during the holidays, but all year round.
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