The holiday shopping season has reached its snowy peak. How is your business doing?
Whether you've surpassed your sales goals or are still climbing towards them, we'd like to help inspire you to make these final days as profitable as possible!
Key Takeaways You Will Get From This Article
1. Your website and social media pages are your best marketing tools as online shopping continues to grow in popularity.
2. Try offering a new promotion or special incentive for gift card users.
3. To keep your customers coming back, make sure your business stands out.
Here are five ways you can make the most of the remainder of the holiday shopping season:
1. Update your website and social media pages.
If you've read any of our other blog posts, you probably noticed that we mention keeping your website updated... a lot. That's because it's incredibly important! Your website is your best marketing tool, so you should be investing plenty of time into keeping it fresh and up to date.
When it comes to the holidays, many people “window shop” online before braving the crowds to make their purchases in-store. That is if they even make it into the store. Online shopping continues to grow in popularity because it's fast and convenient.
Your website will be the first (and quite possibly only) experience customers have with your holiday sales and product offerings. Be sure to keep it updated with important information including:
- Any changes in your business hours, including days you will be closed for the holidays.
- New or ongoing holiday promotions.
- Upcoming special events or activities.
- Your holiday gift guide. (Click here for specific gift guide tips!)
It's important to keep your social media pages updated with this fresh information as well. Use colorful, intriguing graphics to capture attention and entice the reader to visit your website for more information. There’s plenty of competition out there for customer attention, so do your best to make them stop scrolling!
For specific holiday social post ideas, check out this article from Constant Contact.
2. Spend more time on the sales floor.
As a small business owner, your list of responsibilities is long. Depending on the size of your team, you may be responsible for everything from setting goals and hitting sales numbers to scheduling employees and tracking inventory.
These tasks are all very important, but at the end of the day, no one knows your products better than you. This means it is important for you to be out on the floor assisting customers and making sales during this busy time of year.
While this may require you to work some long hours or hire additional help, the profit opportunity can make it all worth it! We've got some holiday hiring advice here if you need it.
3. Monitor sales and expenses closely.
The hustle and bustle of the season make it easy for things to slip through the cracks. Even though the days are long, it’s important to stay on top of sales and expenses. Balancing the registers at the end of the day may seem tedious and can sometimes take some serious thought and effort, but it will save you time (and stress!) in the long run.
Keep in mind that unanticipated expenses often occur during the winter months. If you need to hire a plumber to fix a frozen pipe or have trouble with the heat in your store, make sure you keep those invoices in a safe place. Take a photo or scan and save them on your computer just in case the hard copy gets lost in the shuffle. This will help you analyze profits and start forming projections for next year.
A little extra effort now will save you time and headache later!
4. Focus on offering the best customer experience possible.
Your customers will most likely shop from many different stores this season, either in-person or online. To keep them coming back even after the gifting season, make sure your business stands out. The best way to do this is by offering elevated experiences that your competitors either can't or won't offer.
For example, let’s say you run a seasonal clothing store.
An inexpensive but effective experience to offer could be a free hot chocolate bar! It’s both tasty and suits the winter season. While your customers are searching for the coziest coats, boots, and gloves, they’ll be sipping on hot chocolate and thinking about how awesome your store is.
5. Maintain momentum and festive spirit!
Shopping never stops. Of course, stores are typically busier around the holidays, but when all gifts have been unwrapped and holiday meals consumed, we'll still need to shop.
If you sell gift cards or returnable products, December 26th may be another big shopping day for you. This is a great opportunity to finish the year strong! You can keep jingle bell rocking the holiday spirit with a new promotion or special incentive for gift card users. Another way to encourage people to stop in and spend is by offering loyalty promotions, like 5x points or a special coupon for customers participating in your loyalty program.
Is a new gift & loyalty program on your 2022 wishlist?
Electronic Merchant Systems can help with that! We offer custom gift and loyalty programs to help you attract new customers and encourage loyalty for your brand. Plus, one of our creative professionals will work closely with you to design the card precisely to your liking! Click here to learn more.
We wish you a very happy holiday and a prosperous New Year!
Sources: Small Business Trends, Forbes, Vend HQ
