eCommerce firms should prepare themselves for the 'Christmas Effect' from mid-September

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: eCommerce firms should prepare themselves for the 'Christmas Effect' from mid-September.

New research from ChannelGrabber, the software provider of multichannel eCommerce software, has found that the Christmas 2017 peak selling season will begin around mid-September this year, and end as soon as December 20th. This information, and more, has been used to put together a detailed guide to help online sellers capitalise on the busiest of seasons.

ChannelGrabber's research draws on analysis of data from almost 1,000 retailers ranging in size from micro to large across all sectors of online retail. The research identifyies patterns and trends and turns them into the basis for actionable selling tactics.

As well as well as looking at the timing of the "Christmas Effect", this unique report also looks at the best time for marketing to maximise sales, as well as asking whether Black Friday lives up to the hype and when is the ideal point to take a well-earned vacation.

"Everyone knows Christmas is the year's greatest retail event, but there has been little if any quantitative research carried out into its effect on online retailers' business. We commissioned this research because we wanted to help retailers to understand the trends and patterns of the key Christmas selling period and to help them plan for 2017 to ensure they maximise sales and customer satisfaction. We were genuinely surprised by several of the findings," said Mike Morgan, CEO of ChannelGrabber.