New Year & Q1 Clearance: The Complete Shopify Campaign Strategy

The holiday rush is over. Your inbox is quieter, the shipping deadlines have passed, and December's chaos has settled. But here is what most Shopify merchants get wrong: they treat January as a retail graveyard. It is not. January is a high-intent window where resolution-driven shoppers, gift card redeemers, and self-reward buyers are actively looking to spend — and the merchants who meet them with a structured strategy (instead of panic-discounting everything) win Q1 before it even starts.

This guide breaks down exactly how to plan and execute a New Year and Q1 clearance campaign on Shopify — from timing your phases to choosing the right discount depth for each product tier. Whether you are clearing winter inventory, capturing resolution shoppers, or converting gift card holders into repeat customers, every section is built around real January shopping psychology.

The Holiday's Commercial Profile

January retail is far from dead. US consumers spend tens of billions in the first two weeks of January on post-holiday purchases, fueled by gift card redemption, resolution shopping, and clearance hunting. In the UK, Boxing Day through January sales consistently rank among the top five retail periods of the entire year.

The January shopper is fundamentally different from the December shopper. In December, people buy for others. In January, they buy for themselves. Self-purchase intent rises significantly as shoppers shift from "what does she want?" to "what do I need?" This psychological shift changes everything about how you should position your products, frame your discounts, and write your messaging.

The Gift Card Opportunity Most Merchants Miss

Gift card purchases during the holiday season generate an enormous wave of January traffic. With consumers purchasing an estimated $29 billion in gift cards during the 2025 holiday season, billions of dollars flow into stores in January as recipients redeem their cards. These shoppers enter your store with "free money" and a willingness to spend 20-40% above the card value. They are not browsing — they are ready to buy.

Categories That Surge in January

Resolution-driven categories see dramatic lifts in the first week of January. Fitness and wellness equipment rises 40-60%. Planners and organizational tools spike. Self-improvement books, healthy food and supplements, and home storage systems all see sustained demand through mid-January. If your product catalog touches any of these categories, January is not a slow month — it is a peak opportunity.

USA vs UK: Two Different January Playbooks

Search trend data confirms the pattern: "new year sale" queries spike between December 28 and January 3, "january clearance" sustains through January 20, and resolution-related product searches peak between January 1 and 7. The traffic is there. The question is whether your store is ready for it.

Campaign Timing Strategy

The biggest mistake in January campaigns is running one flat "January Sale" from the 1st to the 31st. Different shoppers arrive at different times with different motivations. A three-phase approach matches your campaign to their psychology.

Preparation: Mid-December (December 15-20)

Begin setting up before the holiday rush consumes your attention. Sort your inventory into tiers, determine clearance vs. full-price items, and pre-schedule your campaigns. If you wait until January 1 to start planning, you have already lost the most motivated shoppers.

Phase 1: New Year Flash (December 31 - January 3)

This is the highest-urgency window. A 48-72 hour flash campaign targeting impulse self-reward buyers and early gift card redeemers. Keep discounts aggressive on selected clearance items only — not storewide. This is your "doorbuster" equivalent for January. The energy of the new year creates natural urgency that amplifies a tight deadline.

Phase 2: Resolution Week (January 4-10)

Shift messaging from "clearance" to "new year, better you." Feature resolution-driven products: fitness, organization, wellness, self-improvement. Moderate discounts of 15-25%. This is where you capture the "I bought for everyone during the holidays, now it is my turn" shopper. The motivation is intrinsic — they want to change something in their life. Your product is part of that change.

Phase 3: Final Clearance (January 11-20)

The sustained liquidation phase. Deeper discounts of 30-50% on remaining winter stock. In the US, align the tail end with MLK Day weekend for a natural sales anchor. In the UK, this phase may start winding down as the cultural "January Sale" period closes. Bargain hunters who waited through Phases 1 and 2 are now ready to buy at the deepest cuts.

Discount Strategy

Do not apply one flat discount to your entire store. January clearance requires product-level tiering: dead stock gets deep discounts, slow-movers get moderate discounts, and resolution-relevant products can carry lighter discounts because demand is already high. Here is the framework.

Tiered Spend-More-Save-More for January

A tiered discount structure works particularly well in January because shoppers buying for themselves tend to add multiple items to cart. Example: 10% off orders under $75, 15% off $75-$150, 20% off $150+. This increases average order value and encourages gift card holders to spend above their card balance.

Protect Your New Arrivals

If you are launching spring products in January, keep them at full price. Running a clearance on old stock while introducing new arrivals at full price creates a natural "this is leaving, this is arriving" narrative. Your customers understand that last season's items are discounted because new things are coming in — this feels logical, not desperate.

Free Shipping as a Secondary Incentive

Free shipping threshold is a strong complement to your discount tiers in January. "Free shipping on orders over $60" motivates gift card holders to top up their order above the card value. It also gives walk-away customers an additional reason to add one more item to their cart.

Campaign Type Selection

Each phase of your January campaign calls for a different campaign mechanism. Using one approach for the entire month wastes the opportunity to match your strategy to each shopper segment's behavior.

Countdown Timer Framing by Phase

The countdown timer is effective throughout January, but the framing changes. Phase 1: "Flash sale ends tonight." Phase 2: "Your personal offer expires in 40 minutes." Phase 3: "Last chance — sale ends January 19." Each framing matches the urgency level and campaign type of that window.

Email Capture: The January List-Building Opportunity

January is one of the best months for list building because resolution shoppers are more open to new brand relationships. They are exploring new categories, trying new things, and receptive to signing up for communities that align with their "new year" goals. A simple "Join our 2026 community — get 10% off your first order, valid for 3 days" converts well. Captured emails feed your Valentine's Day campaign audience, spring launch audience, and full-year nurture sequence.

Post-Purchase Upsell in January

Post-purchase upsell is particularly strong in January. A customer clearing out winter stock from your store at 40% off is highly receptive to "Add this matching item for 30% off" shown between checkout and the thank-you page. The upsell margin is healthier than the primary clearance discount, and one-click acceptance means zero friction.

Product Selection and Positioning

Audit your inventory in mid-December and sort products into four buckets. This sorting determines which products go into which campaign phase and at what discount level.

Curate for Gift Card Holders

Create a "Best Under $50" or "Best Under $75" collection specifically for gift card holders. These shoppers know their budget (the card value) and appreciate curation. Products in the $30-$80 range convert best because they feel like a "full use" of a typical gift card while encouraging a small top-up spend. Pair this collection with trending product recommendations to surface your highest-converting items.

Bundle Dead Stock with In-Demand Items

Pair a slow-moving winter scarf (discounted) with a popular new planner (full price) in a "New Year Starter Kit." Bundles move clearance inventory while maintaining perceived value. The customer feels they are getting a curated package, not buying leftovers.

Free Gift with Purchase

"Spend $60+ and choose a free winter accessory." This clears dead stock disguised as generosity, increases average order value, and makes the customer feel rewarded for their post-holiday purchase. Display the free gift threshold in your cart drawer so shoppers can see exactly how close they are to unlocking the bonus.

Shift Your Messaging

December was "gifts for others." January is "finally, something for me." Adjust product descriptions, collection page headers, and email subject lines to reflect self-purchase intent. "You deserve this," "Start your year right," and "Treat yourself" outperform any leftover holiday messaging. A clearance page titled "Start Fresh" outperforms "Holiday Clearance" in January.

Dedicated Buyer vs Walk-Away Customer Behavior

January brings distinct shopper profiles to your store, and they need fundamentally different treatment. Giving every visitor the same discount wastes margin on people who would have bought anyway and may not be enough for those who need a stronger nudge.

January's Dedicated Buyers

The resolution shopper who has already decided: "I need a yoga mat and a planner, let me find the best one." They are searching for specific products, comparing features, reading reviews. Purchase intent is high. They do not need a discount to convert — they need reassurance they are choosing the right product. Social proof, detailed product information, and fast shipping close these sales.

The gift card redeemer with a specific item in mind: "I got a $50 card, I know exactly what I want." They will buy regardless of discount. Giving them 20% off is pure margin loss. Instead, show them complementary products through recommendations and post-purchase upsells to capture the spend above the card value.

January's Walk-Away Customers

The "I will buy it later" browser: Exploring resolution products but has not committed. "Maybe I should start running... let me look at shoes." They need a time-limited nudge to act now rather than procrastinating. A 10-15% offer with a 30-45 minute window converts procrastination into action.

The post-holiday fatigued shopper: "I just spent so much during the holidays, I should not buy anything." They feel guilt about spending. A small, personalized discount reframes the purchase as a smart deal rather than indulgence. This is about psychology, not price.

The aimless gift card holder: "I have $50 to spend but nothing specific in mind." They need curation and gentle urgency. Product recommendations combined with a mild time-limited offer turn browsing into buying.

Behavioral targeting differentiates these groups automatically. Dedicated buyers browsing with clear intent see full prices and convert on product quality. Walk-away customers who linger, add to cart but do not check out, or return after two or more days receive a personalized, time-limited offer.

Offer fatigue risk is lower in January than during BFCM — shoppers have not been bombarded with offers for weeks — but still apply the one-real-offer-per-visitor rule. January browsers who receive an offer and do not convert should enter a cooldown period before seeing another one.

Five Common Mistakes

Most January campaigns fail not because the traffic is missing, but because the execution destroys margin or brand equity. Here are the five mistakes that cost Shopify merchants the most in Q1.

Mistake 1: "Everything Must Go" Panic Pricing

Applying 40-50% off storewide on January 1 because you are anxious about leftover inventory. This destroys margin on items that would sell at moderate discounts (or full price), trains customers to wait for deep January sales next year, and makes your brand look desperate.

Mistake 2: Ignoring the Gift Card Redemption Window

Most merchants treat gift card holders like any other visitor. But these shoppers have guaranteed spending money and are psychologically primed to exceed their card value. Failing to curate for them means missing one of January's most profitable segments.

Mistake 3: Running a Campaign with No End Date

"January Sale" that quietly continues into February signals to customers that your prices are not real, your urgency is not genuine, and there is never a reason to buy now. Indefinite sales train shoppers to never pay full price.

Mistake 4: Neglecting to Capture January Leads

January browsers — especially resolution shoppers exploring a new category — are highly receptive to email capture. Many merchants focus only on conversion and miss the list-building opportunity. Every email you do not capture in January is a potential customer lost for Q1 and beyond.

Mistake 5: Treating January as December Overflow

Your December campaign messaging was about gifts, holiday cheer, and shipping deadlines. If your January campaign still says "Holiday Sale," you have missed the psychological shift. By January 2, consumers are in "new year, new me" mode. Old messaging feels tone-deaf.

Implementation with Growth Suite

Here is how to set up the three-phase January campaign using Growth Suite's tools. Each phase uses a different campaign type matched to the shopping psychology of that window.

Phase 1 Setup: Flash Clearance (December 31 - January 3)

Create a Scheduled Campaign in Growth Suite with a fixed start (December 31, 9:00 AM) and end date (January 3, 11:59 PM). Use the Countdown Timer in "days + hours" mode so visitors see "Flash clearance ends in 2 days, 6 hours." Apply discounts via the Product Price Editor for your dead-stock tier (40-50% off). This updates actual Shopify prices, which means the discounted prices automatically appear in Google Shopping and Meta Ads feeds. When the flash ends, one-click rollback reverts everything.

Phase 2 Setup: Resolution Week (January 4-10)

Switch to a Trigger Campaign targeting walk-away customers on resolution product pages. Set discount range to 10-15%, timer duration to 30-45 minutes. Growth Suite only shows the offer to visitors who linger without purchasing — dedicated buyers convert at full price. Use Advanced Behavioral Targeting to create a segment for "visitors who added to cart but did not check out on their last visit." These returning January browsers get a slightly stronger offer of 15-20%.

Phase 3 Setup: Final Clearance (January 11-19)

Create a second Scheduled Campaign with Tiered Storewide Discounts: 15% off orders $0-$75, 20% off $75-$150, 25% off $150+. The Cart Drawer displays real-time progress: "Add $22 more to unlock 20% off." This drives average order value and helps move remaining inventory in bulk.

Automated Deal Rotation

Add 30-50 clearance products to a Product Deals campaign. Growth Suite rotates 6 active deals at a time with dynamic badges and individual countdown timers. When one deal expires, the next product activates automatically. Products get a 72-hour cooldown between cycles. This keeps your clearance page fresh across a two-week campaign without manual price management.

Email Capture Throughout January

Set up an Email Capture campaign: "Join our 2026 community — get 10% off your first order, valid for 3 days." Sync captured emails to Klaviyo or Mailchimp. January email captures feed your Valentine's Day campaign audience, your spring launch audience, and your full-year nurture sequence.

Post-Purchase Upsell

Configure a Post-Purchase Upsell funnel triggered when orders contain clearance items. Offer a complementary clearance product at 30% off on the confirmation screen. One-click add-to-order with no re-entry of payment details. Clearance buyers are highly receptive to "add one more at a deal" offers.

A/B Testing Your January Campaign

During Phase 2, run an A/B test on your Trigger Campaign: Variant A = 10% off with 30-minute timer, Variant B = 15% off with 45-minute timer. Allocate 50/50 traffic. Measure by Revenue (not just conversion rate) to find the discount depth that maximizes total return. January provides clean test data because it is not clouded by the chaos of BFCM or holiday traffic.

Growth Links for Distribution

Create branded Growth Links for each phase: one for the Phase 1 flash sale and another for Phase 2 resolution products. Share via email, SMS, and social. Use "Discount Only" mode so shoppers land on your store with the discount pre-applied. Track per-link conversions to understand which channel drives the most January revenue.