There are a few times of the year when retail businesses are extremely busy. And the holidays are some of those times. Every business needs to prepare for the influx of customers and opportunities to sell new merchandise. As you gear up, consider this question: What does your retail business need this holiday season?
Holiday Helpers
The increase in sales and influx of customers also brings more work hours. The increased activity will require more employees. You can try and handle the pressure with your current staff now but remember that it’s the holidays for them too.
They’ll need some time off to handle their other obligations. Additionally, all that extra work for them might get to be too much. Hiring more staff creates more space and time for them to handle other tasks on the job. Spreading your employees too thin might cause some things to fall through the cracks, and you don’t want that.
Improved Sales System
Aside from bringing in additional helpers, you might need to update your current system to handle the increase in sales. Having a technical breakdown in the middle of a workday is fun for no one. You never want to tell your customers you’re only accepting cash at the moment or have more than one register down.
Make sure your current machines work and see what their lifespan is. Also, make an accurate sales projection for the end of the year. Start by recording your sales data manually with a spreadsheet program. Look at your sales data from the previous year to establish a baseline.
Incorporation of New Marketing Trends
It’s always a good idea to incorporate new marketing trends every year. Your current ones might have worked, but your business needs to stick with the times and remain current. Out with the old and in with the new.
Consider promoting a killer New Year’s Eve event for your business. Not every event needs to be a party. It can be a contest for customers to enter. People love winning free stuff, especially if it’s new merchandise they planned on paying for. The contest will bring lots of foot traffic.
Better Use of Downtime
Not every day will be busy. There will be some downtime during the holiday season. And in those moments, you need to prepare for when the hectic days inevitably come. Have your additional staff organize the inventory in the back and create a better system.
The organization in the back of the store will affect the front. Stock the shelves on these days and handle any bookkeeping tasks you’ve been putting off. You’ll avoid getting overwhelmed on busy days because you’ve already handled everything else.
For this holiday season, you don’t have to stress about handling the upcoming success of your retail business because you know exactly what it needs.
