The 2025 holiday season is fully in the rear-view mirror. All of the planning, strategizing, and execution came to fruition and now companies (hopefully) have an expanded audience base and are looking for ways to do even better in 2026. 

But let’s not look ahead too far yet. Many brands are too quick to turn the page and forget all of the hard work that went into growing the customer base for the holidays. What you should be thinking is not How can we do it better in 2026?, but rather, How can we turn these new customers into loyal customers? If you’re going to spend all of that hard work acquiring them, you might as well do everything possible to keep them around. 

The influx of new customers during the holidays might not look like your new customers the rest of the year. Some are buying gifts for loved ones. Others may only know you for one product they saw. There are different tactics you should be taking in the new year to persuade new holiday customers to stay with you. Here are three to consider.

Educate Your New Customers

A consumer’s understanding of a brand can be pretty narrow during the holiday season. Their son or aunt asked for a product as a gift. They saw you show up on a gift guide. Or maybe they asked their AI of choice for the best shoes/perfume/coffee and your brand was included. Regardless, the sales lifecycle was potentially short during the holidays but it’s going to be longer next time around. 

Make sure you are giving them the full story of who you are and what you do. Educate them on your other products. Show them your process and history. Really work to transform them from a one-time purchaser into a loyal fan. 

The other key part of education is that you engender trust. No consumer wants a one-sided relationship with brands where they’re expected to give their money and data for little in return. This is where you can return the favor as a brand. If you sold them a new camera for Christmas, give them how-to guides to make the most of it. If the customer bought sports equipment for their kids, send them some fun games and drills to practice with. Leverage user-generated content to show how your products are being used in the real world. 

Not every interaction should be about a sale. Build a relationship without expecting something immediate in the return. That will generate more in the long term. 

Allow Them to Treat Themselves

Buyers just spent the past three months stressing about the perfect thing to get the loved ones in their lives. If you want to engage them now, give them an excuse to focus on themselves. 

The challenge here is understanding and differentiating who purchased for others and who bought for themselves. Some inference can be made based on your product and main customer demographics. Or you could look at who selected the option to mark the product as a gift when shipping (if possible). Otherwise, you might have to rely on the section above and make sure buyers understand all that you have to offer. 

The bigger point is this: Don’t pigeonhole holiday buyers into only receiving product recommendations aligned to what they bought. Because again, that could be a one-off and not useful information for you. Get creative with marketing campaigns that allow you to capture preference data so you can more accurately target what they really want. 

Give a Reason to Buy Now

Again, your entire Q1 strategy can’t be solely around the sale. You have to give more to the relationship than that. But consumers’ lives also don’t shut down just because the biggest shopping month of the season just took place. 

Your calls to action in the early months of the year are going to be important. What is the incentive for them to act now versus waiting? Is it a special offer that can only be redeemed in January? A timely promotion that speaks to where the customer is at this time of year? 

The other thing to consider is that some of the most popular holiday presents are gift cards or cash. Target the recipients who were given the freedom to pick what they wanted for themselves and show why your products deserve to be bought with their gift money.

Incorporate into Your Annual Plan

By now, you should have your 2026 plan either finished or in a good place. Make these critical Q1 months part of the plan and think about how you can build from here. What comes next after the education and additional data gathering? How can that be carried through the summer months and ultimately the next holiday season? 

We’re helping numerous brands plan for 2026 and how to grow their ecommerce presence and can work with you as well to engage and retain your customers through the new year. And if you want additional planning insights, download our 2026 Ecommerce Planning Guide.