Gift guides can provide a big lift during the holiday shopping season. The trick is to keep them relevant. Here are some tips to help yours stand out among the crowd.

1. Beef up your marketing emails. Gift guides are a must-click for shoppers. You need to be promoting them within your holiday emails and SMS campaigns. These are great to use in conjunction with product recommenders.
2. Convenience is key. Themed curated boxes are on the rise. Consider offering a few bundles items that are packaged up nicely. Nothing says convenient like not having to wrap a gift! Target, for instance, is rolling out a service that allows online customers to send to friends and family electronic gift boxes.
3. Change up the format. In the age of Buzzfeed, people are eating up “top five, ten, twenty” articles. Just like this one… Considering merging an article with a gift guide such as, “top ten gifts for guitar players”.
4. Guides based on the recipient/relationship. I saw something similar this past year while I was looking for a Father’s Day gift. Multiple sites had a gift giving guide that was meant to narrow the search to a few unique items that a “dad” would be interested in. The options with this type of gift guide are endless. Here are a few suggestions:college student, mom, dad, sister, brother, mother in law, new mom, new home owner, pet parent of cat/ dog, niece, nephew, etc.
5. Theme based guides. Like the recipient/relationship guide, but this option goes a little bit further with the personalization. Some of the inspiring guides I have seen are these: funny, star-wars lover, foodie, traveler, introvert, secret Santa, stocking stuffer, techie, beauty, warm& cozy, luxury, etc.
6. Gift collections. If you have designer collections, now is the time to highlight them. Consider offering discounts if they are bundled together or gift wrapping.
7. Budget, budget, budget. The holiday season can be hard on the wallet. Having a guide that is broken down by a spending limit can be a huge stress reliever for shoppers. I would highly recommend fitting this idea in somewhere.
8. Paired gifts. Add a section that highlights gifts that go well together. This is another opportunity to use product recommendations. If someone is buying a cookbook, show them a few options that pair well with that.
9. Last minute ideas. If there is one thing you can count on during the holidays, its last-minute shoppers. Consider offering a gift guide to help those stressed shoppers, they need all the help they can get.
10. Wish Lists. If you have the capabilities to execute this idea, it’s worth it. Check out this informative article that breaks down the pros and cons of wish lists from our partner BigCommerce.