How to Turn Browsers into Buyers (Before the Holidays Hit)

In our most recent Free Training Friday, we focused on one thing: helping wineries convert holiday browsers into buyers. With peak shopping season approaching, this session was all about small, actionable tweaks you can make right now to ensure your site is ready when customers start searching for gifts.

1. Make Holiday Intent Obvious

When shoppers land on your homepage, they're looking for one thing: the confidence that you can help them find (and ship) the perfect gift on time. That's why it's so important to give them clear visual and navigational cues that say, "Yes, we've got you covered."

That doesn't mean covering your site in red and green. Instead, aim for subtle seasonal touches that align with your brand, like warm seasonal messaging, photography, or gift-centric cues. 

Two Key Updates to Add Now:

• Shipping Timelines: Clearly state cutoff dates ("Order by Dec 18 for delivery by Dec 24").
• Corporate Gifting Entry: Include an entry point high on the homepage or navigation. Even a simple "Bulk Orders? Start Here" banner can capture high-value buyers who don’t want to dig.

And don't forget: create a Holiday Collection in Commerce7 and move it above your standard release list. If a customer has to scroll or search to find your seasonal lineup, they’re more likely to bounce.

2. Simple Bundles that Sell

Holiday shoppers crave simplicity and speed, especially when buying gifts. The fastest way to get them to click "buy" is by packaging the decision for them.

Focus on Curated Gift Packs

Instead of forcing a shopper to build a multi-bottle order, present them with ready-to-ship collections. Curated gift packs eliminate friction and showcase immediate value, which is crucial for gift buyers.

• Suggestion: Aim for two to four bundles that hit different price points and gifting occasions:
• The Entry-Level Gift: A popular two or three-bottle pack (<$100).
• The Collector's Gift: A premium, higher-value six-pack featuring exclusive wines.
• The Themed Gift: A "Sparkling Celebration" or "Fireside Reds" set for a specific event.

Price Strategically 

The goal isn't just to sell wine; it's to make the total cost of the bundle feel like an easy upgrade compared to buying the bottles individually. 

• Tip: Set the bundle price to land on a "clean" or friendly number. A bundle priced at $115 instead of $123 is faster for the eye and the brain to process as a simple, good deal. You want the buyer to feel like they saved time and got better value.

Pre-Order and Prep Packaging Early 

December delays are brutal, especially for gifts that need to arrive by Christmas. Getting ahead on fulfillment materials gives you crucial breathing room.

• Suggestion: Whether you’re fulfilling in-house or with a partner, pre-order all necessary holiday packaging now: custom boxes, filler, branded tissue paper, and gift cards or hang tags. Confirm your supply chain can meet your holiday volume so you don't face stressful stock shortages in the peak season.

Invest in High-Impact Visuals (Build Trust)

If a product looks premium, the buyer assumes the gift is premium. Don't underestimate the impact of quality photography on a gift page.

• Suggestion: If you don't have new photography lined up for your seasonal packs, consider the Outshinery Lite App for Commerce7. It offers clean, photo-realistic bottle renders at roughly $29/image—a quick, cost-effective way to level up your product pages without the time and expense of staging a physical shoot.

3. Nudge at the Right Moment: Cart Carrots for Instant Upsells

When a customer adds a product to their cart, they’re showing high intent and that’s the best time to upsell. Cart Carrots let you deliver targeted prompts directly in the cart, helping customers increase order value without ever leaving the checkout flow.

A Few Winning Ideas We Spotlighted:

• Threshold carrots like "Add 2 more bottles to unlock free shipping."
• Product-aware carrots such as "Love this Rosé? Grab our 6-pack deal."
• Gift add-on carrots offering quick gift card options ($25, $50, $100) with a single click.
• Gift wrap add-ons like "Make it a gift! Add our premium black-box wrapping.” 

Because carrots can be based on collections, tags, or cart value, you can personalize offers for every segment. Plus, they can be scheduled to activate and deactivate on set dates, meaning you can prep all your holiday promotions now and let them roll out automatically later. When offers are well-timed and relevant, they don’t feel pushy, they feel helpful.

4. Personalization: The High-Value Welcome

Even small personalizations can make a big difference. A Personalization Block that welcomes returning customers by name or recommends products based on their last purchase can turn a casual visitor into a repeat buyer.

Start with easy wins like highlighting gift cards to customers who’ve purchased last-minute before, or surfacing club-exclusive bundles to logged-in members.

Example: Use the Customer Tag filter to greet buyers who purchased during last year's holiday with a banner offering early access to this year's top bundle. This simple action makes them feel valued and drives early sales.

5. A Holiday Classic: Gift Cards 

Gift cards remain one of the most flexible and powerful tools in your holiday toolkit. They are crucial for your business because they lock in revenue now while delaying the cost of goods and fulfillment until the recipient redeems the card later.

The Dual Advantage: Last-Minute Sales and Zero Shipping Stress

Gift cards excel because they solve two common holiday problems for shoppers:

1. The Perfect Last-Minute Gift: When shipping deadlines have passed or a shopper is simply unsure what wine to buy, a gift card is the instant, stress-free solution. By making e-gift cards highly visible, you capture sales right up to Christmas morning.
2. No Fulfillment Hassle (for the winery): You secure the cash immediately, but you don't have to package, ship, or track the order right now. This shifts fulfillment volume out of the brutal December peak and into the quieter post-holiday months.

Focus on Simplicity and Flexibility

Make sure your customers know how easy and flexible the options are.

• Virtual and Physical Options: Commerce7 supports both virtual (e-gift) and physical cards. Clearly feature both options, as some shoppers prefer a tangible gift to wrap, while others just need an instant email delivery.
• Redeem Everywhere: Highlight that the cards can be redeemed across your entire ecosystem: online, through the POS, or in the tasting room. This adds maximum value and convenience for the recipient.
• A "New Customer" Acquisition Tool: Every gift card redeemed brings a new or existing customer back to your site or tasting room, virtually guaranteeing a follow-up visit and often leading to an upsell beyond the card's original value.

6. Remove Friction and Build Checkout Confidence

Your checkout experience should feel fast, familiar, and reliable, especially during the holidays when shoppers are buying gifts on tight timelines. Every extra click or unnecessary field introduces hesitation, and hesitation often leads to abandoned carts.

A great place to start is guest checkout. Keep it visible right away so shoppers can complete a purchase without creating an account. Most gift buyers are focused on speed, not long-term logins.

From there, look at how customers are paying. Enabling Apple Pay or Google Pay gives mobile shoppers a seamless, one-tap checkout that builds trust and saves time. It’s a small update that can have an outsized impact on conversion rates. When checkout feels quick and predictable, buyers not only finish their purchase, they’re more likely to return the next time they shop.

7. Keep Learning and Get Ahead

Everything covered in this session—from Cart Carrots to shareable links—is detailed in Commerce7 Docs and C7 Academy courses. If you’re short on time, aim to implement one improvement per day this week. By the time the holiday rush hits, you’ll have learned how to implement a smarter, smoother shopping experience built to convert.

Up next: Common Mistakes Haunting Wineries 

Our next Free Training Friday dives into the most common pitfalls that quietly cost wineries sales—and how to fix them before the holiday rush. Join us for Common Mistakes Haunting Wineries: Banish Them Before the Holidays Hit to learn what to check, change, and clean up now.

Save your spot.