🎄 eFlorist Holiday Prep Checklist

Overview

✅ Pre-Holiday Preparation

🛍️ Site Merchandising & Campaign Setup

• Verify keepsakes are activated and available for all shops

• Confirm holiday products are feeding correctly from PIM

• Validate pricing updates and global settings

• Align homepage, category, and messaging dates with holiday campaign timelines

• Ensure homepage merchandise dates match email campaign dates

• Review homepage schedule for:
• Correct dates
• Appropriate headlines
• No gaps

Email Plus Alignment

• Validate Email Plus 1 & 2 merchandising aligns with featured products

Category & Content Updates

• Update category merchandising based on:
• Prior year performance
• New products

• Coordinate French translations (products + banners)

• Update banners, tiles, and seasonal assets

• Update category descriptions (including current year references)

Promotions & Assets

• Activate holiday gift card type (prioritize at checkout)

• Update Deal of the Day:
• Image
• Tile (rectangular + square)

• Update carousel + navigation to reflect holiday categories

• Upload and configure holiday videos (mark public in YouTube)

• Add banners (including video banners) to Find a Florist

Platform Checks

• Review Sitespect A/B tests (pause negative impacts)

• Verify rotation template dates

• Confirm florist communication/email has been sent

📧 Promotional Email Campaigns

• Set up all emails in advance (including opt-out options)

• Validate:
• File name
• Send date
• Subject line
• Source code

• Ensure email creative matches campaign calendar

• Align email schedule with sales forecast

• Avoid over-sending (e.g., multiple emails in low-volume days)

• Set reminder emails to deploy 5 days before holiday

✉️ Email Plus Program

• Test all promotion codes across sites

• Set expiration dates correctly*(Oracle expires at 12:01 AM)*

• Notify florists in advance:
• Participation
• Send dates
• Discount details

• Confirm best-sellers for campaigns

• Create opt-out product pull

• Coordinate email volume to avoid overload

📈 OSM (Online Search Marketing)

• Define budget thresholds for campaign inclusion

• Align campaign plans with florist expectations

• Validate all links (no 404 errors)

• Remove non-converting keywords

• Set up A/B ad copy testing

• Align ad schedule to order curve / forecast

🌐 Yelp & Search Optimizer

• Update store hours and holiday availability across:
• Google
• Yelp
• Yext

🧑‍💻 Support & UX Readiness

• Update Find a Florist copy for holiday

• Communicate code freeze dates internally and to florists

• Update auto-replies with holiday turnaround times

• Identify shops missing holiday categories and proactively reach out

• Align with key accounts on support needs

• Confirm escalation paths

• Standardize messaging on processing delays

📊 Reporting & Monitoring Setup

• Coordinate system monitoring with development

• Track:
• Pricing issues
• Index queues
• Site activations
• Email+ performance

• Validate 3rd-party tracking (Omniture, Kenshoo, Yelp, etc.)

• Share performance reports with team regularly

• Plan baseline index timing (required for global updates)

🎯 During the Holiday

🛍️ Site Merchandising

• Ensure US + Canada homepage alignment

• Update homepage based on:
• Product performance
• Email performance

• Promote:
• Best-sellers
• Keepsakes

📧 Promotional Email Campaigns

• Confirm product pulls generate successfully

• Deploy emails according to schedule

• Pause daily reminder feeds

• Use manual holiday reminder feeds with unique creative

✉️ Email Plus Program

• Scrub data before launch:
• Validate florist participation
• Confirm only eFlorist sites included

• Re-test promotion codes

📈 OSM Program

• Monitor performance

• Shift spend away from low-performing campaigns

🧑‍💻 Support & UX

• Monitor support volumes

• Adjust staffing as needed

• Escalate system issues quickly

📊 Reporting & Monitoring

• Monitor system performance

• Identify issues via:
• Support feedback
• System reporting

❄️ Post-Holiday Cleanup

🛍️ Site Merchandising Reset

• Update navigation to winter content

• Remove all holiday banners and promotions

• Replace with seasonal (non-holiday) content

• Update:
• Best Sellers
• Occasions
• Categories

• Reset Deal of the Day to standard image

• Revert pricing to everyday pricing

• Reconfigure category sorting (remove holiday prioritization)

📧 Promotional Email Cleanup

• Reactivate daily reminder feeds

• Remove unused/old email data

• Create post-mortem analysis

✉️ Email Plus Program

• Complete post-mortem reporting

📈 OSM Program

• Disable holiday campaigns

• Reset budgets to standard

• Complete performance review

🌐 Yelp & Search Optimizer

• Reset store hours to normal operations

🧑‍💻 Support & UX

• Coordinate the cleanup report with development

• Identify any remaining site updates needed

📊 Reporting & Insights

• Review overall holiday performance

• Document:
• Wins
• Gaps
• Improvements for next cycle