Melbourne Cup Sale: What it is [+Checklist to drive sales]

The Melbourne Cup is one of Australia’s most iconic sporting events, attracting millions of viewers and visitors each year. It is a public holiday in the state of Victoria, and many Australians use the day to celebrate with friends and family.

The Melbourne Cup is also a major economic event, generating billions of dollars in revenue for the Australian economy. This includes spending on tourism, hospitality, retail, and gambling.

For e-commerce businesses, the Melbourne Cup is a golden opportunity to boost sales. The event draws in a large and affluent audience, and many people are looking to spend money on new outfits, accessories, and other items to celebrate the occasion.

This blog post will explore how e-commerce businesses can leverage the Melbourne Cup to boost sales. We will also discuss the e-commerce segments that see the event’s biggest positive impact.

Understanding the Melbourne Cup

The Melbourne Cup is a horse race that is held annually on the first Tuesday of November at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the most prestigious horse races in the world, and it is a major event in the Australian social calendar.

The Melbourne Cup was first run in 1861 and has been held yearly since then, except during World War I and II. The race is open to Thoroughbred horses aged three years and older and runs over a distance of 3,200 metres.

The Melbourne Cup is a major event for Australians because it is a day of celebration and national pride. Many Australians use the day to have a picnic or party with friends and family and often dress in their finest clothes. The race is also televised live across Australia, and millions of people watch it. 

The Melbourne Cup is also a major economic event for Australia. The race is estimated to generate billions of dollars in revenue for the Australian economy each year. A report by IER found the Melbourne Cup Carnival has contributed more than $3.6 billion in gross economic benefit to Victoria in the past decade. This includes spending on tourism, hospitality, fashion and retail, and gambling. The same report highlights that nearly $51.9 million was spent on retail, including fashion and grooming in Victoria by attendees.  Fashion items alone accounted for $34.1 million, with shoppers investing in hats, shoes, dresses and suits.

For e-commerce businesses, the Melbourne Cup is a golden opportunity to boost sales. The event draws in a large and affluent audience, and many people are looking to spend money on new outfits that comply with the event’s dress code, accessories, and other items to celebrate the occasion.

Preparing Your E-commerce Store

In addition to boosting sales, the Melbourne Cup can help e-commerce businesses increase brand visibility and reach new customers. The event is widely publicised in Australia, with an estimated reach of 10.3 million native participants and a global reach of 750 million, making it a great opportunity for businesses to get their products and services in front of a large audience.

Here are some specific ways that e-commerce businesses can leverage the Melbourne Cup to boost sales and increase brand visibility:

Optimising Your Website

Before the Melbourne Cup, it is important to make sure that your website is optimised for a seamless shopping experience. This includes ensuring that your website has a responsive design, fast page loading speeds, and mobile optimisation.

A responsive design means that your website will look good and function well on all devices, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. This is important because more and more people are using their mobile devices to shop online.

Page loading speed is also important. Visitors to your website are more likely to leave if your pages take too long to load. You can improve your page loading speeds by optimising your images, using a caching plugin, and reducing the number of plugins you are using.

Mobile optimisation is also important. A significant portion of your website traffic will likely come from mobile devices, so it is important to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. This means ensuring that your website is easy to navigate on a small screen and that your buttons and other elements are large enough to tap on.

Creating Melbourne Cup-Themed Content

Creating Melbourne Cup-related content is a great way to promote your business and engage with your target audience. You can create blog posts, videos, or social media updates about topics such as:

• Melbourne Cup fashion trends
• Melbourne Cup food and drink recipes
• Melbourne Cup party planning tips
• Melbourne Cup gift ideas
• Melbourne Cup trivia

You can also use your content to promote your Melbourne Cup sales and promotions. Be sure to include links to your website and product pages in your content.

Updating Product Listings

Another important way to prepare your e-commerce store for the Melbourne Cup is to update your product listings to highlight your Melbourne Cup promotions. This includes updating your product titles, descriptions, images, and pricing.

Your product titles should be clear and concise and include relevant keywords. Your product descriptions should be informative and persuasive, and they should highlight the benefits of your products and the value they offer to your customers. Your product images should be high-quality and should accurately represent your products. Your product pricing should be competitive and should reflect your Melbourne Cup promotions.

Social Media Promotion

Social media is a powerful tool that can be used to reach a wide audience and promote your Melbourne Cup sales and promotions. Here are some tips for leveraging social media to boost your sales during the Melbourne Cup period:

• Use relevant hashtags: Hashtags are a great way to reach people who are interested in the Melbourne Cup. Be sure to use relevant hashtags in your social media posts, such as #MelbourneCup, #FashionsontheField, and #SpringRacingCarnival.
• Run social media contests and giveaways: Contests and giveaways are a great way to engage your audience and generate excitement about your brand. You could offer to give away a prize, such as a Melbourne Cup fashion outfit, a gift basket filled with food and drinks, or tickets to a Melbourne Cup event.
• Partner with other businesses: You can partner with other businesses in your industry to cross-promote your products or services on social media. For example, you could partner with a fashion boutique to offer a joint contest where the winners receive a gift card redeemable at both businesses.
• Use social media advertising: Social media advertising platforms like Facebook Ads, TikTok ads, and Google Ads can be a great way to reach a wider audience and target people who are interested in the Melbourne Cup. You can create targeted ads that promote your products or services and offer special discounts and promotions when potential customers run a search query for the Melbourne Cup.

And in case you were looking for some ideas for Melbourne Cup-themed social media posts and ads, we have listed a few below:

• Post photos and videos of your Melbourne Cup fashion picks
• Share recipes for Melbourne Cup-themed food and drinks
• Post tips for planning a Melbourne Cup house party
• Offer special discounts and promotions on Melbourne Cup-related products and services
• Run contests and giveaways to engage your audience and generate excitement about your brand.

Moreover, running paid advertising campaigns on social media platforms like Facebook Ads and Google Ads can be a great way to reach a wider audience and target people who are interested in the Melbourne Cup. These ads can include potential shoppers who live in Australia or who have actively participated in past Melbourne Cup events.

Create highlights and add links to shoppable Melbourne Cup products on the social media profiles of your e-commerce store. Preparing your social media profiles weeks ahead of the event gives you plenty of time to attract interested shoppers, pushing them closer to the buying journey.

Customer Engagement and Loyalty

Engaging with customers during the Melbourne Cup sale is essential for building relationships and driving loyalty. Here are some activities you can implement:

• Contests and giveaways: Offer Melbourne Cup-themed prizes, such as vouchers for event participants or post-event shopping activities.
• Live chats: Provide live chats with customer service representatives to answer questions and assist with purchases.
• Loyalty programs: Reward customers for their loyalty with special discounts, exclusive offers, and early access to new products.

Loyalty programs can also be a powerful tool for retaining customers. According to a McKinsey survey, 75% of Australian consumers say loyalty programs are important to them.

Here are some ideas for Melbourne Cup-specific loyalty rewards:

• Early access to Melbourne Cup fashion sales
• Discounts on Melbourne Cup-related products and services
• Free shipping on Melbourne Cup orders
• Exclusive invitations to Melbourne Cup events

You can build relationships and drive repeat business during the Melbourne Cup sale and beyond by engaging with customers and offering loyalty rewards.

Customer Support and Fulfilment

During peak times, providing efficient customer support and order fulfilment is important. Here are some tips:

1. Customer support:

• Hire additional customer support representatives to handle the increased volume of inquiries.
• Implement a live chat system so that customers can get help quickly and easily.
• Create a self-service knowledge base so that customers can find answers to their questions on their own.

2. Order fulfilment:

• Increase your inventory levels to meet the increased demand.
• Partner with a 3PL who can help you scale your logistics infrastructure to handle the surge in demand during the Melbourne cup sales.
• Use a reliable shipping carrier that can handle the high volume of orders and offer you live tracking at every stage of the fulfilment journey.

Conclusion

The Melbourne Cup is one of the most iconic sporting events in Australia, and it is a major economic event as well. E-commerce businesses can leverage the Melbourne Cup to boost sales by optimising their websites, creating Melbourne Cup-themed content, updating product listings, using social media, engaging with customers, and ensuring that their e-commerce platforms are scalable.

By planning ahead and following the tips in this blog post, you can ensure that your business has a successful Melbourne Cup sale.

Start planning your Melbourne Cup sale strategy today! And if it is inventory and fulfilment that you’re worried about, Locad can help you with everything. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you make the most of the Melbourne Cup Sale. So, contact Locad today to learn more about how we can help you make the most of the Melbourne Cup opportunity.