From holiday rush to year-round loyalty: 5 Steps to master post-holiday experiences for seamless performance

The holiday rush can be a make-or-break moment for retailers and e-commerce businesses. But the real challenge? Keeping those seasonal shoppers coming back long after the decorations come down.

Following plentiful December 2023 sales, many retailers were surprised to start the new year with a sales slump as consumer spending dwindled. The Commerce Department reported that in January 2024, U.S. retail sales dropped 0.8% – much farther than economists expected.

Businesses hope to avoid a repeat scenario. They want to maintain holiday momentum and turn seasonal shoppers into year-round loyal customers. The key may lie in having top-notch system performance, even during the busiest times. Here’s how you can make it happen in five simple steps — using Tricentis NeoLoad to stay ahead of the game:

1. Set clear goals early

Know the targets for your omnichannel systems, including response times, user loads, and critical actions like checkout or searches. Collaborate with business stakeholders to prioritize what matters most to ensure smooth operations throughout the year.

2. Start testing sooner

Shift-left testing keeps everything on track even when the pressure is on to keep pace with fast release cycles. By testing early and often during development, you’ll catch issues before they become costly downstream problems and ensure consistent quality.

3. Automate what counts

Automation speeds up fixes and keeps critical workflows humming under heavy system load. Focus your automation on retail and e-commerce processes, such as shopping carts and checkouts, to deliver high-impact, positive customer interactions.

4. Optimize the customer’s experience

Happy customers can equal higher retention rates. If an application performs very slowly or a site takes too long to load, customers will quickly bounce and take their dollars with them. Real-world testing matters, so monitor page load times and script performance.

5. Test the backend, too

Your backend is the backbone. Test servers and APIs to squash bottlenecks, analyze reporting and results, and identify performance issues to ensure your systems stay stable and prepared to handle no matter what traffic hits.

Forrester predicts that “a mix of technological advancements and economic realities will shape the retail landscape in 2025.” With technology like Tricentis NeoLoad, retailers have a tool to provide flawless post-holiday experiences by making performance testing a breeze with each step:

• Early goal setting to streamline planning for real-world retail scenarios.
• Agile integration is perfect for early and frequent testing.
• Powerful automation keeps your key processes stress-free.
• User experience insights help optimize usability through browser-based testing.
• Backend strength to pinpoint inefficiencies and prepare you for peak traffic.

While Black Friday and Cyber Monday often get all the retail recognition, peak season is only part of the story. Consistently delivering great customer experiences will keep shoppers coming back all year long. Follow these five steps and enhance system performance with NeoLoad, and you’ll be retention-ready in no time.

Ready to build loyalty year-round? Start preparing now by reading our eBook Performance testing for holiday readiness: How to handle traffic spikes when any day could be a holiday and set the foundation for continual success.