Why Q5 is the Golden Opportunity eCommerce Retailers Can’t Miss

After the Christmas shopping season ends, capitalising on Q5 can help you maintain your sales trajectory into the new year.

The days after Black Friday and Christmas can feel quiet compared to spending levels throughout the rest of December. However, retailers are becoming increasingly aware of the high sales potential offered by the immediately post-Christmas period, termed ‘Q5’.

To keep up with other eCommerce brands as an online retailer, you need to understand Q5 and know how to maximise your sales during this unique time of year.

What is Q5?

Q5 is the post-Christmas eCommerce shopping period spanning from Boxing Day on the 26th of December until mid-January. It’s a time of year unlike any other, with consumers still away from or slowly returning to work.

Why is Q5 important?

Unlike the hectic lead-up to Christmas, Q5 shoppers will often have more downtime for leisurely browsing of online stores. This means they’re more likely to take their time shopping around and comparing your offerings to competitors. To overcome this increased scrutiny and win sales, you’ll need a strong strategy that helps you stand out.

How can Q5 benefit your eCommerce brand?

Focusing on Q5 can help ensure your brand has a strong start to the new year. By targeting shoppers freshly armed with Christmas money and gift cards, you can secure a successful transitional period. With the right strategy, you can also transform these shoppers into repeat customers to drive long-term brand growth. All while clearing your store’s inventory, freeing up space for brand-new stock in the new year.

Why Q5 is a golden opportunity

Q5 provides the perfect opportunity to give your end-of-year sales a boost, while paving the way for a successful Q1. Here are several factors contributing to Q5 being such a lucrative time of year for online retailers, including:

• Continued consumer spending: In place of gifts, many consumers receive gift cards or cash deposits into their bank accounts from family members. As Boxing Day arrives, plenty of shoppers will be looking for something to spend this on.

• Sales surge after returns: With Royal Mail returns increasing by 52% between January and December, many shoppers will be looking to replace their unwanted gifts.¹

• Clearance sales: Deal-seeking shoppers will be waiting for your end-of-season sales to bag a bargain.

• Reduced competition: After investing so much in the lead-up to Christmas, many brands scale back on their marketing efforts in Q5. This means there is less noise to cut through to get your brand’s message heard.

Understanding the behaviour driving Q5 shoppers will help you stay ahead of the competition. Now you know what gives Q5 shoppers their potential, let’s explore the trends influencing their behaviour.

Consumer trends in Q5

We have already touched on how Q5 is a unique time of year due to increased consumer downtime. However, specific trends in consumer behaviour also arise after Christmas and into the new year, further contributing to its distinctness.

After the Christmas shopping rush is over, consumer spending trends tend to shift towards:

• Bargain hunting: After the high spending period before Christmas, shoppers will be looking to secure a cheap deal, searching for sales and post-holiday discounts.

• Focus on the self: Once Christmas shopping is done, consumers will no longer be searching for gifts, but instead looking to purchase for themselves. Shoppers are encouraged to reward themselves after the busyness of Christmas, resulting in a shift in focus from ‘you’ to ‘me’.

• Goals for the New Year: It’s well known that the new year means a ‘new me’ for a lot of consumers. Shoppers are optimistic about health and fitness goals and other resolutions, and will be searching for products to support these.

By resonating with shoppers looking to make a post-Christmas purchase, you can drive increased Q5 sales for your eCommerce brand. Read on to discover how you can utilise these trends to design an effective Q5 strategy.

How to create effective Q5 marketing strategies

Now that you’re familiar with Q5 and its consumers, you can start developing a strategy to boost your brand’s sales during this time.

Here are five tips for building a successful Q5 strategy:

1. Utilise promotions and discounts

Shoppers will have spent large sums on gifts over Christmas, often paying full price to secure the items they want. After Christmas, they’ll be hoping to save some money by looking for discounted items and deals.

Capitalise on these bargain-hunting buyers by running flash sales over Q5, encouraging quick conversions to avoid missing a good deal. Motivate shoppers to build bigger baskets and increase your AOV by offering a discount or free delivery for larger spends.

Utilise on-site messaging tools to ensure your deals are visible to the shoppers who are looking to find them.

2. Apply highly targeted marketing

Highly personalised marketing can be a great way to stand out from competitors and drive conversions. Below are a few examples of how you can incorporate targeted marketing into your Q5 strategy.

Segmented email and SMS sends

Utilise the shopper data you already have to create and send marketing messages to highly specific customer segments. This will enable you to send highly relevant messaging that is more likely to engage your customers.

For example, send a follow-up email to shoppers who purchased Christmas gift cards, suggesting they buy gift cards for other occasions. Or target shoppers who recently purchased a gift set with an SMS encouraging them to treat themselves next time.

Pro tip: You can make segmentation easier using an automated email marketing tool like Salesfire. With this, you can set up automated email and SMS flows that will automatically trigger for shoppers who fit certain criteria.

Retargeting ads for cart abandoners

With more time on their hands than before Christmas, Q5 shoppers will have time to explore multiple sites before purchasing. This can result in shoppers abandoning your site to browse elsewhere.

Recapture the attention of these shoppers by retargeting them with paid ads featuring the products they’ve shown interest in. By reminding shoppers of what they left behind, you can encourage shoppers to return to your site and convert.

Pro tip: Create ad audiences based on your existing shopper data to maximise the accuracy of your ad targeting. This helps your ads to better connect with your audience, improving the likelihood that shoppers will click through.

3. Manage your inventory

Q5 provides you with the ideal opportunity to drive sales whilst getting ready for the new year. You can shift stock from previous seasons by:

• Running clearance sales: Motivate buyers to purchase your slow-moving stock by offering these products at heavily reduced prices. Use phrases such as ‘last chance to buy’ when promoting these sales. This can drive shoppers to buy right away to avoid missing out on a good deal.

• Cross-selling complementary products: Shift old stock and boost your revenue by showcasing items that pair well with the shopper’s chosen product. Display personalised product suggestions both on-site and in your email campaigns using a recommendations tool to encourage shoppers to build bigger baskets.

With these strategies, you can give your end-of-year and new-year sales a boost, all while creating space for new-season stock.

4. Ensure omnichannel optimisation

Shoppers will have had enough of stressful shopping experiences over Christmas, so focus on making their Q5 experience as effortless as possible. Here’s how you can do this:

• Match online and offline messaging: Align your messaging across the mobile and desktop versions of your site, social media, and your physical stores. This reduces confusion and lets shoppers know they can expect the same high-quality experience at every touchpoint. 

• Optimise your website for all devices: Ensure your website performs well on mobile, desktop and tablets. Test the entire user journey, checking that the navigation is easy to use and that payment is quick and simple. If you make shopping hassle-free, no matter the device, shoppers are more likely to convert.

Taking a step back to see how your brand appears across platforms and devices can help you enhance the customer journey and boost sales.

5. Prepare for key dates

While most major events in the eCommerce calendar fall before Christmas, Q5 has several key dates to be aware of.

Boxing Day

Traditionally, Boxing Day has been the focus of retailers’ efforts between Christmas and New Year. Although the post-Christmas sales period has now expanded online, the 26th remains an important day for brands looking to drive post-Christmas sales.

Online retailers can expect high traffic on Boxing Day from shoppers looking to spend their Christmas money and gift cards. You can maximise sales from these visitors by running a Boxing Day sales event and providing deals on product bundles.

1st January

The beginning of January is a key time for online stores, especially the first weekend. Many consumers will be engaging in New Year’s shopping, looking for items to help them succeed in their new goals. 

Make it easy for shoppers to find items linked to resolutions by clearly highlighting them on your site. You can also use email campaigns to showcase how your products can be used to help shoppers achieve their goals. Deliver messaging that matches, whether shoppers are getting healthy, organised, renovating their house, or simply refreshing their wardrobe.

Resonating with shoppers who have a ‘new me’ mindset will drive early-year conversions for your brand.

By implementing these Q5 strategies, you can end 2025 and begin 2026 on a sales high.

Long-term benefits of a strong Q5 strategy

An effective Q5 strategy can both uplift your post-Christmas sales and generate growth that extends beyond the new year. 

Investing resources in Q5 can be worth it for your business for the following reasons:

• Customer retention: Communicating with Q4 shoppers throughout Q5 will help you transform more of your Christmas shoppers into loyal customers. By keeping your brands in their minds over the quiet post-Christmas period, you can prevent disengagement and promote further sales.

• Build momentum for Q1: Decreased competition during Q5 means it’s a great time to build brand awareness and strengthen customer relationships for the new year. For example, with fewer emails being sent from brands, it’s easier for your message to get noticed. It’s a great chance to grow your customer base for 2026, where you can continue to nurture your shoppers.

By building long-term customer relationships with your Q5 strategies, you’ll promote business success for months and years to come.

Unwrapping Q5

With the Christmas shopping period requiring so much focus from retailers, the potential for sales in Q5 is often overlooked. With a strong Q5 strategy, you can capture extra opportunities for end-of-year and early-year sales. 

Shoppers are often worn out and looking to rein in spending after Christmas. However, by running flash sales, highlighting your deals, and sending targeted email marketing, you’ll keep sales high into the new year.

1 Data: Retailers hit with £1.51bn in returns after Christmas rush | Retail Gazette