How do you increase sales during the festive season?
How do you increase sales during the festive season?
For years, retailers have been taking advantage of traditional holidays to increase their profits, and we are approaching the most promising time for retail sales; it’s time to be ready to rock.
Christmas is typically a high-volume selling season and is considered one of the busiest and most lucrative for retailers worldwide; the World Cup will significantly boost sales this year, so there are plenty of opportunities for retailers to make an extra profit. It’s time to be creative and make the most of it to make extra money.
In this article, we will share some proven strategies that will help you execute a profitable holiday plan for your business and make your customers want to come back again and again, no matter the time of the year.
Focus on Customer Service
Ensure you and your employees are ready to provide the best customer service possible during this time of the year. Train your staff members to be cordial, knowledgeable and polite in-store, on the phone or online. Putting in the extra effort to offer excellent customer service over the holiday season will undoubtedly pay dividends for you into the new year and beyond.
Sometimes, your employees may see tense or snappy during the holiday rush; it’s easy to get stressed out when working in retail during this time of year. But you must ensure you help reduce, rather than increase, the pressure on your staff. Keep the atmosphere light and manage difficult situations. The holiday season is long – help your employees stay friendly and patient. Making sure you have a robust POS System in place to support your staff – from requesting vacation time to track worked hours to making last-minute schedule changes – can not only maximize your employees’ productivity but also keep them satisfied with their workload.
Sales Promotions
Discounts and promotions have been proven to have a powerful effect on consumers’ purchase decisions; retailers know that sales promotions are among the most effective methods of increasing sales, boosting customer satisfaction, and heightening brand awareness. During the Christmas season, when shoppers will be looking to save as much as possible given all the Christmas shopping to be done, creating a seasonal promotion, such as a Christmas discount for certain products, is an excellent way to motivate immediate purchases and increase a customer’s purchase value.
An extra tip to consider is to establish some limited time for the promotion to happen, which further encourages the purchase at the moment. For example, adding a time limit until the end of the rise adds another weighting factor in the purchase decision – which will have even more effective if it is represented visually with, for example, a countdown –or else create urgency through a description of the remaining inventory, for example, “Only three left!”, or a more general statement such as “Limited stock”.
Identify What Your Ideal Customer Wants
Research the average amount your target audience is willing to spend this year. This process is essential to develop a mix of products or services that meets your consumer.
In times of economic crisis or inflation, customers with lower purchasing power tend to reduce their purchase value. Therefore, it is interesting to offer items at more affordable prices. To help, it is worth checking the sales history of the same period in previous years through your pos system.
The consumption pattern is usually repeated during this period. Thus, you can forecast which products have the highest sales and have an information base for purchases. With a mix of goods with greater output, you increase sales possibilities.
Getting The Most Out Of Advertising
Kick your Christmas marketing, create your marketing campaigns, and remember to touch people’s hearts with memories and references that involve the Christmas spirit. From the defined idea, develop the visual identity for your social media and store, looking for ways to bring a differential to stand out from competitors.
Remember to customize your packaging; packaging is the first step in creating a memorable unboxing experience. Also, unique Christmas packaging for your products over Christmas adds a touch of care and, if coupled with a Christmas edition product, can help create a sense of ‘exclusivity’ around your product and brand.
Anyone that visits your store, blog, social media or your eCommerce should know that you’ve prepared to offer a unique Christmas experience for your clients.
Don’t forget about your email marketing campaigns before and after Christmas.
Invest In Your Point-Of-Sale System
Point of sale Systems, or POS Systems, have been an essential part of retail business for decades. They’ve evolved from simple cash registers to sophisticated software that can manage and integrate your business operations, from daily sales to inventory.
Investing in a POS system will help you operate your business more efficiently in a fast-paced period of the year. You can run your business from one platform, accept new payment methods with quick and easy integrated payments, manage people, integrate with your account software, control margins with in-built inventory management software, and have invaluable insights and analytics for your business.
The back-end management system offered by electronic point of sale can provide several advantages for the company, especially when integrating it with ERP software. The operations start to work in a more aligned way, optimizing the work routine. Check all the benefits of investing in a good POS System.
About our Company
Retail Solutions is a market-leading EPOS provider with over 25 years of business experience. Our leading sectors are convenience stores, supermarkets, forecourts, pharmacies and coffee shops.
We are dedicated to providing your store with the most up-to-date and reliable point-of-sale hardware and software management tools to help you manage your business effectively.
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About the author:
Juliane Camozzato is the Head of Marketing at Retail Solutions. You can follow her on LinkedIn!
