Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday… are you ready for the business boom that comes every holiday season? Consumers tend to loosen the purse strings during this time of year, so if your business is prepared, you could see huge sales spikes in a matter of months. Get ready with these tips for retail success during the holiday season:
Best-Sellers List
Prepping for a massive influx of customers during the holiday season means you’ll need more inventory on hand to sell. However, this does not mean ordering all of the products you stock in bulk, it means predicting which products will probably sell faster than others. Review seasonal sales history from last year and see if there are any products that stand out as best sellers. Are you on social media? Ask for customer feedback about what products they love to get a pulse on what’s happening this year. After you collect this information, be sure to up the inventory for popular products so you can make more sales and avoid frustrated customers who can’t find what they’re looking for.
Staff for the Season.
An increase in customers typically means a temporary increase in staff members is needed. Hire ahead of the holiday season so you have time to teach new employees about your products and procedures. The last thing you want is to have a flustered employee who has no idea what they’re talking about selling to customers in the middle of the holiday rush.
Be Data Driven.
Use the increased traffic in your store to capture data from customers that you normally wouldn’t encounter. Every customer should be asked to sign up for your newsletter or email list or follow you on social media. This is a time to reach a whole new audience of people outside of your regular customers! Take advantage of it and get these customers’ contact information so you can continue to sell to them after the holidays.
Merchandising is Key.
A lot of shoppers tend to become impulsive buyers during the holiday season, so try to create opportunities for add-on or complementary purchases in your store. Group items together based on what type of customer the items attract. For example, you wouldn’t merchandise scarves next to sunscreen, would you? But, a person who is looking for a scarf might also be interested in gloves, so place these items together, and you might sell two products instead of one.
Business After the Holidays
Although you may love racking up sales during the busy holiday season, remember that every January, retail sales tend to slow down in comparison to the prior months. Be proactive and curb this slowdown by pushing customers to gift loved ones with a gift card to your store. This guarantees you’ll get foot traffic after the holidays and have an opportunity to upsell the customers once they’re in the store.
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