What happens after the holiday rush is over?
Your stores acquired thousands of new shoppers during the holidays, but without a retention plan, 70% of them will forget your brand. The problem isn't your product or marketing team — it's that you aren’t giving your store teams a clear, repeatable way to bring them back.
This playbook gives you the follow up system top retail brands use to drive repeat purchase without adding hours to their team's day.
What You'll Learn
- Data-backed retention strategies from over 2.2M clienteling messages
- The follow-up formula that converts holiday shoppers into loyal customers
- How to segment your customers so your team focuses on the right people
- Proven messaging templates and timing strategies for post-holiday outreach
- Simple metrics to track ROI and prove what is working
- A step-by-step plan to convert holiday returns into repeat revenue
Ready to Turn Holiday Shoppers Into Year-Round Customers?
Download the playbook and get immediate access to our follow up frameworks, proven message templates, and a tracking system to measure your progress. Don't leave customer retention to chance.
FAQs
Who is this playbook for?
Who is this playbook for?
This is for retail directors, store ops leaders, and anyone responsible for keeping retail customers engaged after the holidays. If you run stores and want to stop losing 70% of your holiday shoppers, this is for you.
Why do 70% of holiday customers never come back?
Why do 70% of holiday customers never come back?
Holiday shoppers are often buying impulsively, trying your brand for the first time, or purchasing gifts for others. Without proactive follow-up in the first 90 days, they forget about you. The brands that retain holiday customers don't wait for them to come back—they reach out personally with segmented messaging that makes each customer feel valued, not like another email blast.
What's inside the playbook?
What's inside the playbook?
Three core sections: (1) Data-backed insights from $21M in Black Friday sales showing what actually drives retention, (2) A returns section with scripts and tools to turn every return into a relationship, and (3) A complete follow-up system with segmentation, templates, and tracking metrics. Every section is tactical and simple for store teams to use. We encourage you to share it with your team or even print parts of it for your team trainings.
Our marketing team already follows up with holiday customers. Why do we need store-level outreach too?
Our marketing team already follows up with holiday customers. Why do we need store-level outreach too?
Marketing follow-up is important, but our data shows that personal messages from store teams convert 30x higher than marketing emails. Marketing drives traffic to your website with promotions, while store team outreach helps build real relationships with customers that bring them back to your stores. Don't rely on marketing alone, use both for maximum retention.
When should I start following up with holiday customers?
When should I start following up with holiday customers?
As soon as possible. The first message should happen by January or February — a personal thank-you and check-in that opens the door for future communication. Then follow up a month later with an invitation to shop new arrivals, and again in April with personalized product recommendations. Consistent touchpoints every 1-2 months keep you top of mind without overwhelming customers.
How does Endear help with holiday customer retention?
How does Endear help with holiday customer retention?
Endear makes it easy to execute this playbook at scale. Automatically segment holiday customers based on spend, frequency, and purchase history. Send personalized messages across SMS, email, and live chat. Track which follow-ups lead to sales so you can prove ROI to leadership. Retail brands using Endear see a 70% increase in customer order frequency because they have the tools to follow up consistently and personally.