Seasonal shopping peaks around holidays and Mega Sales Days are times when consumers are not only in buying mode, they’re also open to discovering new brands and products online. That creates an important opportunity for businesses to build their customer base and deepen relationships that can deliver growth all year long. But you need to meet shoppers where they are, both in terms of the channels they spend time on and their shopping priorities.

To help you develop the most effective business messaging strategy for holiday sales peaks ahead, we’ve gathered up some insights based on seasonal shopping behaviors and attitudes.

A global analysis based on nearly 18K holiday shoppers^* revealed some important patterns that you can use to time and shape your messaging strategy for maximum business impact. Here are six key findings to consider.

Every year, it seems consumers begin planning earlier for end-of-year holiday shopping. Around the world, more and more shoppers start planning what and where they want to buy before October. Even for the not-so-early birds, fewer are waiting until December to plan and instead are getting ready in November.

That means savvy merchants can’t delay when it comes to building awareness, generating leads, and offering personalized promotions. Start the conversation early, and engage throughout the customer lifecycle to ensure you’re locked in to every shopper’s holiday gameplan.

The majority of holiday shoppers say they spend more time online during the holidays vs. the rest of the year—especially Gen Z and Millennial consumers. That increased digital media consumption correlates to intensified shopping activity, such as discovering and purchasing from a wider range of categories.

Just as important, more than half of all holiday shoppers discovered brands or products during the holidays on Meta platforms like WhatsApp.

The takeaway? Put yourself out there online with tools like ads that click to WhatsApp to reach new audiences, start new conversations, and get discovered.

Meta technologies influence shoppers’ seasonal purchases and spark discovery of brands and products. People are using Meta throughout the journey, with nearly a third of holiday shoppers making purchases on Meta technologies, where integrated shopping features help streamline the shopping experience.

Especially in regions where consumers are feeling economic uncertainty, people are seeking cheaper alternatives and taking advantage of seasonal discounts. In fact, nearly half of shoppers globally do most of their holiday shopping during seasonal discount sales events.

Merchants should keep this in mind when crafting their business messaging strategy, and prioritize putting promotions, coupons, and special offers front and center for value-minded consumers.

Across all Mega Sales Days, shoppers continue to allocate a significant portion of their budget toward Black Friday and Cyber Monday, particularly in EMEA and North America. In those regions, merchants should continue to plan and optimize their campaigns to take advantage of those peak end-of-year spending events.

Even among the Gen Z and Millennial shoppers globally, nothing compares to Meta technologies for influence during the big shopping peaks throughout the year. Businesses should keep this in mind when planning an effective marketing mix.

Seasonal shopping periods are your opportunity to reach new audiences and shoppers when they are most active online, most open to discovering new brands and products, and looking for enticing holiday deals.

Meta technologies like WhatsApp are highly influential during these sales peaks. WhatsApp for Business gives you powerful ways to connect with people throughout the customer lifecycle, capture more of their holiday spending, and create the kind of personalized shopping experiences and relevant messaging that engage shoppers all year long.

Learn more about how to optimize your seasonal business messaging strategy with a full range of holiday and Mega Sales Day resources from WhatsApp for Business. And if you’re not yet using WhatsApp for Business to do more with conversations, get started today.