Back to blog

Learn with Threecolts

Small group workshops to help you learn, optimize, and grow.

Learn About Coaching

Key Dates in 2023 to Boost Your E-commerce Profits

Threecolts
Emma Ritson
Published
January 3, 2023
Modified
March 26, 2024
Dates to know in 2023 to boost your e-commerce business

With Chinese New Year, Valentine’s Day, and other key consumer moments just around the corner, e-commerce businesses should embrace these key dates in order to boost profits and turnover.

Start the New Year with a bang, not a whimper, after all.  

No surprise that these major events and holidays have a huge influence on consumers’ buying habits and spending. So go ahead and prepare your business, replenish your stock, and mark your calendars with these critical events and dates so that 2023 becomes your best year yet.

January 2023: New Year, new you

Vowed to lose weight or take up exercising? You’re not alone. With millions of people worldwide determined to change their lifestyles and habits, Amazon businesses in the health and fitness categories will need to brace themselves for an influx of consumer movement—both online and at the gym. Right now is a great time to offer discounts or coupons on products that help people realize their New Year's resolutions.

Chinese New Year is another huge opportunity for e-commerce businesses. Revenue from retail sales during the Chinese New Year festival in 2021 reached £92 billion — and sales in previous years were even higher. Be sure to prepare for Chinese New Year ahead of time, as many Chinese workers will be off work for more than a week. This can have repercussions with product availability, delivery and supply chain. We'll be exploring this more below, so keep reading.

Here are some critical dates for January:

Amazon boxes for delivery

February 2023: the month of love

With Valentine's Day taking place this month, ensure your listings for items such as gifts and romantic presents are fully optimized with related keywords. Also, make sure your product photos are of the highest quality since people like to buy their loved ones the best products they can find.

Roses for romance and gifts

Don't forget that the Super Bowl happens the day before Valentine's Day. So if you're selling sporting memorabilia or goods, make sure your listings and advertising campaigns are supercharged with relevant content and keywords. Score big!

Other dates to note:

  • February 1: Official start of Black History Month
  • February 1: Official deadline to get tax form W-2 to employees & the IRS
  • February 12: Yay, it's Super Bowl Sunday
  • February 14: It's Valentine’s Day
  • February 20: It's Love Your Pet Day
  • February 21: Shrove Tuesday/Pancake Day

March 2023: spring break

Fill your glasses! Amazon brands selling pool party decorations, travel products or hangover remedies should be prepared for an increase in sales this month. Why? Spring Break! This means people are partying, traveling, and drinking more than at other times of the year. All those revelers will need hangover cures, sunglasses, towels, hats, travel bags, and fun accessories to look the part.

Spring breakers having fun

Here are some other important dates:

  • March 1: Official deadline to complete and file 1099s via mail with IRS (form 1096)
  • March 8: Yay, it's International Women’s Day
  • March 12: Start of Daylight Saving Time
  • March 13 The Prosper Show
  • March 15: Official deadline to file your S-Corps (form 1120-S) and for partnerships (form 1065)
  • March 17: St. Patrick’s Day
  • March 20: It's the first day of spring!
  • March 26-29: Shop Talk

April 2023: Easter time

Amazon brands selling cute little knickknacks or decorations that suit the elegant confines of an Easter basket—your time to sell has come. Ensure your listings are optimized and look into using Easter-related keywords in your advertising and product descriptions.

Here are some key dates:

  • April 1: Hey! It's April Fools’ Day
  • April 2-8: Holy Week
  • April 7: It's Good Friday
  • April 9: It's Easter Sunday
  • April 11: National Pet Day
  • April 12-13: e-commerce Operations Summit
  • April 15: Deadline to file taxes for individuals, single-member LLCs or LLCs taxed as a corporation, C corps or sole proprietors.
  • April 22: Earth Day
Easter eggs

May 2023: celebrations ahoy

May starts with Cinco De Mayo—and the party rages on until the end of the month. If you sell tequila, party supplies, Mexican-related items, or margarita glasses, then listen up: you could see an increase in sales. A great time to replenish your stock, refine your product listings and think about creating coupons or deals to net customers.

Next up is Mother’s Day, a huge day of gift-giving where the range of items sought can be quite broad. If you sell gift items or anything women love such as trinkets, homewares, fabrics, accessories or beauty goods then make sure you place Mother’s Day keywords in your advertising campaigns. You can also brainstorm ideas for a Mother’s Day-themed promotion or marketing campaign on your social media account.

Mother's Day

Flags up! At the month’s end, we have Memorial Day. So get ready to embrace a bit of patriotism in your marketing and product descriptions. Items that sell well include American flags, anything decorated with American flags, folding chairs, picnic sets, and other picnic goods such as plates, cups, forks, and knives.

Other dates to be aware of:

June 2023: rainbow month

With Pride ushering in the month of June, rainbows will be shining brightly. So if you sell anything related to Pride attire, the rainbow flag, and products celebrating gender identity then be on high alert—this is your month. Developing an inclusive brand is both right, expected and efficient, since it will help your business grow.

How?

Buyers look to brands that reflect and support their way of life and experiences. They talk about brands online, with family and friends and in online reviews. Alienating a core group of society by judging their experience and way of life is bad business and could even get people reacting on social media. At the same time, many brands such as Deloitte, Amazon and AT&T have been accused of pink washing just before and during Pride month. So it's important to educate your staff, research the issues and develop an inclusive brand strategy 365 days a year, and not just during Pride month.

Pride wrist band

June is also the month we celebrate Father’s Day in the States. Prepare your inventory and expand your advertising campaigns to include father-related keywords. Father's Day is big business for e-commerce sellers, with reports suggesting that Americans spend nearly $16 billion on gifts for dad. Added to this, a healthy 37 percent of consumers browse for gifts online, with just more than half of them using their phone ot tablet to scroll and purchase.

  • June 1: Pride month officially begins
  • June 13-15: Retail Innovation
  • June 14: Flag Day
  • June 18: It's Father’s Day
  • June 19: It's Juneteenth
  • June 21: It's the first day of summer
  • June 20-21: Commercenext

July 2023: the month of the patriot  

Just like Memorial Day, if you sell American flags your time has come again. Independence Day marks the date when Americans stopped being British subjects, all the way back in 1776. It's one of the mightiest holidays in the US, with $7 billion splashed out on food, drink, and picnic items. This makes July a great time to sell anything with the American flag on it—nearly half a million American flags were sold on Amazon the three weeks before July 4, 2022.

July is also all about warm weather, pool parties, hats, sunglasses, beach towels, luggage, and holidays. If you sell travel-related items and summer essentials, then this is your month. Get creative with ideas, see what is trending on TikTok and Instagram and market your wares with bright, joyful colors that reflect the spirit of an American summer.

If you sell to Europe, then Bastille Day is a national holiday in France you should know about. It marks the start of the French Revolution and of the concepts of liberté, égalité, fraternité—or liberty, equality, and fraternity. Celebrations include an epic military parade on Paris’s iconic Champs-Elysees, with many tricolor flags and accessories. It's a wonderful opportunity to engage with French customers, and offer unique discount codes or sales.

Note these dates:

  • July 1: Canada Day
  • July 4: Independence Day
  • July 14: Bastille Day

August 2023: school starts

Going back to school means people are buying backpacks, school supplies, books, pens, laptops, and such. Ensure you optimize your listings and ad campaigns with the relevant keywords.

Other important dates include the following:

  • August 14-16: eTail East
  • August 16: First day of school for most public schools

September 2023: football season

The NFL season kicks off on September 9th, hooray. This means sellers specializing in sports products, NFL gear, football party decorations, and sports memorabilia need to focus on scoring sales. Aim high, refresh your inventory, and hear the crowds cheer.

Other dates include the following:

  • September 4: Labor Day
  • September 9: NFL season begins
  • September 23: first day of Fall

Remember: You’re only a few weeks away from the first stirrings of the holiday rush. Prepare properly by optimizing all your listings, advertising holiday deals, and checking your inventory data to ensure you have enough to sell.

October 2023: fall and Halloween

October is the month of Halloween, pumpkin carving, costumes, stage makeup, and spiced pumpkin lattes. Make sure your stock levels are high and your listings accurate. Halloween is officially the fourth biggest celebration after Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Easter. Sadly, many retailers completely bypass this holiday in their efforts to cater to the bigger holidays ahead. But many customers have lists of Halloween products they plan to buy, meaning this is a huge opportunity for your business.

Dates to know:

  • October 9: Indigenous Peoples Day/Columbus Day
  • October 9: Canadian Thanksgiving
  • October 31: It's Halloween
  • October 31: This is the last day to order inventory before Chinese New Year, when Chinese suppliers often go on leave.

November 2023: the big month for retail

This is a big month for retail, but everyone knows that! Black Friday and Cyber Monday are major events for all e-commerce sellers and sales can accelerate beyond the norm. Make sure your inventory is good to go and you have a smart discount strategy in place to woo customers. Ideally you should be preparing for November two months ahead. It's also wise to have an annual list of to-do's that you can reference each year for November retail.

So many dates to be aware of:

  • November 1: Deadline to deliver inventory to Amazon warehouse for Black Friday/Cyber Monday and the rest of the holiday season
  • November 1: National Native American Heritage Month starts
  • November 11: Veterans Day and Singles’ Day
  • November 23: Thanksgiving
  • November 24: It's Black Friday!
  • November 27: It's Cyber Monday!

Packing boxes for online store

December 2023: the season of the gift

Candles. Trinkets. Baubles. Cheer. Everybody will be buying gifts in December since it's the biggest month for e-commerce gift-giving worldwide. Make sure your inventory is ready to roll, discounts are placed, and your advertising strategy caters to holiday keywords. This is a huge month for retail, so be prepared.

  • December 17: Super Saturday
  • December 7-15: Hanukkah
  • December 21: First day of winter
  • December 24: Christmas Eve
  • December 25: Christmas
  • December 26: Boxing Day (Canada)
  • December 31: New Year’s Eve

Holiday selling requirements

Since the seasons running from November to January are so busy in retail, Amazon has quite a few requirements you need to know so that things go smoothly for your business. Noting these points down in a document or chart that you can access each year via your calendar is wise.

  • Start optimizing your Amazon listings with holiday and gift-related keywords and images in September. Why? People start shopping in early October and you want to catch their sales.

  • You have be warned! Ensure your inventory gets to US fulfillment centers by November 2 (for Black Friday and Cyber Monday); and December 1 (for Christmas). You do not want to miss these deadlines.

  • Fun fact: the holiday season is the busiest time of the year for freight and transport companies, so allow extra time for goods to arrive at the fulfillment centers. Do not miss out on the best sales of the year due to a scheduling conflict or slip up. Mark it in your calender!

Let's win in 2023

With a plan in place and dates highlighted, 2023 could be your most profitable year yet. Take the time to make charts, lists and calender entries that help you stay ahead of the curve and the competition. Good luck! And sell well.

The Threecolts team

About us

Threecolts acquires, launches, and grows e-commerce software with a robust suite of offerings such as SellerRunning, SmartRepricer, SellerBench, Tactical Arbitrage, Bindwise, RefundSniper, ChannelReply, and FeedbackWhiz.

Reach out to SellerBench for help with shipment reconciliation and FBA fee reimbursements; it's the most robust profit recovery platform for Amazon and Walmart. Because 99% of FBA sellers are owed money. Get your free audit today.

If you are more interested in the #1 Amazon Arbitrage software, try TacticalArbitrage. With over 6,000 users, TacticalArbitrage will help you discover profitable products to resell on Amazon.

SellerRunning is an entirely new way of selling on Amazon. Discover a global network of Amazon marketplaces for seamless listing, smart pricing strategies and increased profitability. Outdo the competition and win the Buy Box with prices that are automatically updated according to your rules.

Bindwise will help you to identify costly issues with your Amazon seller accounts. Receive instant Bindwise Alerts about everything related to your store on Amazon.

RefundSniper is an international Amazon reimbursement service that runs audits on both Vendor Central and Seller Central. Find out how much you are owed by Amazon today.

Try effortless, instant and automated repricing today with SmartRepricer. It's the world's #1 repricer to safely automate your Amazon pricing, win the Buy Box, and increase your sales.

If you're looking for a way to streamline multi-platform e-commerce support, ChannelReply has you covered. Cut your customer response time in half by having all your customer information in one hub.

FeedbackWhiz is an Amazon sellers management software that helps merchants scale their business by automating email campaigns, improving seller feedback, getting more product reviews, monitoring listings, and analyzing profit and accounting data.