The holiday season of the year is the most popular time for couples to get engaged--which makes January the most popular month for registries to be created. Let's make sure you're ready. The more you prepare ahead of time, the more time you’ll have to focus on sales when the store gets holiday hectic.

Please find specific checklist steps and instructions for boosting your holiday sales via Shop Local:

1. Add Holiday Hours
2. Add Header Quick Links
3. Add Top Holiday Items
   1. How to Add Items
   2. How to Add Images
   3. How to Add Gift Occasions to Products
4. Add Holiday News
5. Add Holiday Slides
   1. BONUS: Add Banner for Holiday Sales and Updates
   2. BONUS: Offer Free Shipping for Black Friday & Cyber Monday
6. Sharing News, Posts, and Videos on Social Media
   1. BONUS: Social Media Guide & Templates
   2. Social Media Posts: Examples from Retailers
7. Add Holiday Keywords to Boost Google SEO
8. Print Wedding Registry & Wishlist Flyers
9. Share New Incentives for New Registrants
10. Bonus Suggestions
     

1. Add Holiday Hours

Benefit: Keeps customers informed so they know when they can shop or pick up items in-store.
 

How to Access

1. Roll over Management at the top of the page.
2. Click General Settings.
3. Add updated hours under Business Name, Address, & Contact section.

2. Add Header Quick Links

Benefit: Speed shoppers to content and purchasing.
 

How to Access:

1. Roll over Management at the top of the page.
2. Click Design & Customization.
3. Add header links under Your Layout section.
    

Great for:

• Highlighting your favorite holiday collections or brands.
• Adding a direct link to holiday gifts.
• Offering additional services (such as holiday gift wrapping), events, etc.

TIP: Can be a link within Shop Local, or outside of Shop Local (like an event page).

3. Add Top Holiday Items

Benefit: Drives more sales by showcasing items that are already in high demand, and encourages impulse buys by putting festive, gift-ready products front and center.

A. How to Add Items
For steps on how to add items to your Shop Local Store, please click here: https://www.shoplocal.org/help-center.cfm/84/Add-New-Items-/-Products-to-Your-Shop-Local-Account
 

B. How to Add Images
For steps on how to add images to many products, please click here: https://www.shoplocal.org/help-center.cfm/698/Quickly-Add-Pictures-to-Many-Products
 

C. How to Add Gift Occasions to Products
Benefit: Save time for shoppers by making it easier to see your online Christmas, Judaica, or Holiday items.
 

How to Access:

1. Browse to a product on your site.
2. On the product’s Details page, click Edit Product.
3. In the Edit Product modal, click General.
4. Click Add to Gift Occasion Department and select the gift occasion (e.g., Baby Shower, Christmas, Mother's Day, etc.). You may add multiple occasions if you wish.
5. Click Update Product.

4. Add Holiday News

Benefit: Keeps guests in the loop, adds a personal touch, and helps with Google SEO.
 

How to Access:

1. Click Home in navigation.
2. Scroll down to Our Store News.

Great for sharing:

• Gift-giving guides.
• Store info.
• Favorite products.
• Featured collections or brands.
• Events hosted by your store.
• Videos of your in-store holiday display.

5. Add Holiday Slides

Benefit: Grab attention fast with eye-catching holiday imagery and boost engagement and sales by making your Online Store feel fresh and festive.
 

How to Access:

1. Roll over the green +Add button at the top of the page.
2. Click Slide.
    

Great for sharing:

• Popular holiday brands and products.
• Landscape photos of your holiday store display.
• Holiday sales offerings.

BONUS: Add Banner for Holiday Sales and Updates

Benefit: Quickly and easily alert your customers and potential registrants of holiday sales, updates, etc.
 

How to Access:

1. Roll over Management at the top of the page.
2. Click Banners.
    

Great for sharing:

• Holiday sales.
• Important store info or notices.
   

For steps on how to add a banner, please click here: https://www.shoplocal.org/help-center.cfm/125/Add-or-Edit-a-Promotional-or-Sale-Banner.

For additional help on how to add a coupon and examples of discounts to run via Shop Local, please click here: https://www.shoplocal.org/help-center.cfm/36/Add-a-coupon-code-/-discount-code.

BONUS: Offer Free Shipping for Black Friday & Cyber Monday

Benefit: Stay competitive with big-box stores offering free shipping.
 

How to Access: 

1. Roll over Management at the top of the page.
2. Click Online Catalog & Store.
3. Scroll down to Shipping & Handling area in the Online Retail Features & Services section.
4. Update Shipping settings. Scroll down to the bottom and click the green Save Changes button.

NOTE: Can offer free shipping on all orders for a limited time (expiring after Cyber Monday).

TIP: Add a news post and banner to share the offer with guests.

6. Sharing News, Posts, and Videos on Social Media

Benefits: Drive more traffic/sales by linking posts directly to featured products or promotions, and build community engagement while boosting your Google SEO.
 

How to Share to Facebook from Shop Local:

1. Find the content you want to share.
2. Click Copy Link.
3. Open Facebook and paste the copied link into a post.
    

Examples of content on Shop Local that can be shared:

• News posts.
• Collections & individual products.
• Gifts by Occasion or Best Seller pages.
• Reviews.
   

Great for sharing:

• Favorite holiday items or collections.
• Staff favorites.
• Last-minute gift ideas.
• News from your store or your Syncing Brands.
   

TIP: The benefit of sharing products? 
Not only will it show an image preview on Facebook, but guests can immediately be taken to its respective Details page on your Shop Local Store, allowing them to quickly add to their shopping bag.

BONUS: Social Media Guide & Templates

Need some inspiration?
We’ve created a social media guide with tips on how to post this holiday season, as well as 8 ready-to-go template graphics that you can use.

Please find our 2025 Social Media Guide for the Holidays here: https://www.shoplocal.org/news.cfm/25651/Your-2025-Social-Media-Guide-for-the-Holidays--8-Tips-for-Posting.

Please find our 2025 Holiday Social Media graphics here: https://www.shoplocal.org/news.cfm/25646/2025-Social-Media-Guide-for-the-Holidays--8-Tips-and-8-Posts.

Social Media Posts: Examples from Retailers

Millie Tucker, a retailer in Oklahoma, repurposed one of our templates with their own branding.

Pieces of Eight's store in Louisiana shares its holiday hours on Instagram.

To see more examples of members posting on social media, please click here: https://www.shoplocal.org/help-center.cfm/709/Examples-of-Members-Mentioning-Shop-Local-in-a-Social-Media-Post.

7. Add Holiday Keywords to Boost Google SEO

Benefits: Boost your store’s visibility when shoppers are searching via Google, attract new customers, stay competitive, and increase traffic to your Online Store & Gift Registry.
 

How to Access:

1. Roll over Management at the top of the page.
2. Click SEO & Google Help.
    

Add in a search term (the search in which your store will appear) and a link associated with that term (where customers/registrants will be taken to in the Google search).
 

Examples to enter:

• Holiday Registry (take to Gift Registry Home page).
• Holiday Gift Ideas (take to Christmas Gift Occasion page).
• Holiday Wishlist (take to Gift Registry Home page).
   

TIP: Add your city and/or state in the keyword. This is recommended, as that is what local customers and registrants would include in their search.

8. Print Wedding Registry & Wishlist Flyers

Benefits: Allows in-store guests to more quickly view your online registry service, create a wedding registry, or start their holiday wishlist to be shared with friends & family.
 

How to Access:

1. Roll over Registry at the top of the page.
2. Click Flyers.
    

Three available flyers:

1. Monthly flyer of registries.
2. General wedding registry.
3. General wishlist.
    

Each flyer has a personalized QR code—making it easy and simple for couples to register or customers to create their holiday wishlist.

9. Share New Incentives for New Registrants

Benefits: Encourages more sign-ups, increases customer loyalty, and drives more long-term sales.
 

How to Access:

1. Roll over Registry at the top of the page.
2. Click Settings.
3. Scroll down to the Registry Incentives section.
    

Incentive types:

• New Registry (open a new wedding registry).
• Registry Promotion (complete five steps to help promote their registry—and your store).
• Post Wedding Discount (discount on un-purchased items).

TIP: Increase your sign-up bonus for a limited time if couples register before the new year.

• The holidays are the most popular time for couples to get engaged—making January the most popular month for registries to be created.
• Each wedding registry is worth $3,200 in potential sales. (If offering a $100 bonus credit, that’s 3.12%.)
• Having a time limit further incentivizes the couple to register early.

10. Bonus Suggestions

Benefits: The holiday season is the best time to finish the year off strong and start the new year on the right foot. Preparing in many different ways now sets you up for success.
 

1. Send an email featuring holiday registry tips and trending gifts.
2. Consider bundling popular items into themed gift sets. E.g., Kitchen Set, Home Bar Bundle, Entertaining Assortment, etc. (See image to the right.)
3. Create last-minute gift ideas for in-store and online promotion.
4. Prepare and refresh displays & ads right after the holidays for "Just Engaged?" messaging.