So far your Holiday Things to Do List includes Planning your holiday in-store events, hiring seasonal staff, and covering the basics. Let's continue.
4. Choose a holiday theme. What’ll it be this year? Home for the Holidays? Victorian Christmas? It's A Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol, or
The Nutcracker? Whatever store décor
theme you choose, go for it! These over the top displays have a job to do: put customers in a happy mood to
spend. So, set your windows to sell, play holiday music, and holiday-ize your
dress code. Serve Christmas cookies and cocoa on weekends. Set a schedule of
what needs to happen and when and stick to it.
We’re
here to help with holiday themed, print-ready poster packs created specifically
for small retailers. Visit JingleBellsChristmasSells.com to order.
5. Set your
sales floor to encourage holiday sales. Make a list of these key areas
and check them daily:
q The Decompression Zone is the first 5’
to 10’ just inside your store’s front door. This is where shoppers refocus and
collect themselves for the shopping ahead. They
will miss anything you place here, so put your DZ to work by leaving it
empty. Just beyond the Decompression Zone is where the shopping begins.
q Speed Bump Displays are small tables
loaded with irresistible product that are placed front and center, just beyond
your Decompression Zone. Their job is to stop busy shoppers in their tracks and
redirect their focus to your merchandise. Change your Speed Bump displays at
least once a week, whether they need it or not.
q Keep shoppers hands-free! Customers who
shop with a cart or a basket spend 25 percent more in dollars and up to 15
minutes longer in the store. Place your carts and/or baskets just past the
Decompression Zone and throughout the
store. Keep an eye open for customers carrying product; you’ll want to get them
a basket ASAP. We tend to tend to stop shopping when our hands are full. The Good-L Corporation makes
shopping carts for even the smallest of stores. Visit BigBasketCo.com and take
a look at their “basket carts.”
q Cross-Merchandise by displaying
complementary product together, you’ll save shoppers time and sell more stuff!
Bundle items on tables; create kits, cross-merchandise with clip-strips and
j-hooks everywhere you can. You’ll encourage add-on purchases and increase your average sale.
SouthernImperial.com has a wide selection of cross-merchandising accessories to
choose from.
q Impulse buying at the cash wrap. Women are infamous for making purchases on
impulse, that’s why your cash wrap should be loaded with product she just can’t
pass up. Set a fab display of gifts on the wall behind your cash wrap so
customers never stop thinking about your merchandise. And be sure to place displays
of cool product within reach of the cash wrap, so customers can continue to
shop while they wait on line to pay for their purchases.
q Encourage gift card/certificate sales: Studies
show that 80 percent of customers spend more than the face value of the gift
card, and 40 percent of customers spend more than twice the face value of the
card. Push them this holiday – you can’t lose!
A gift card
stuffed in an envelope doesn’t look like much, even if it’s for a high dollar
amount, but a gift card that’s placed in tissue paper and wrapped in a pretty
gift box or a hand-quilted pouch is something special. Your gift card packaging
builds a perception about your store in the customer’s mind when she opens it.
Don’t skip this important step!
6. Work your social medias. Social networking
builds word of mouth, the number one thing that brings new customers to your store.
Give it some extra oomph this holiday season.
q Increase
your number of e-mail blasts from one to two a month, to three to four a month.
Customers expect extra offers during the holidays. And remember, not every one
has to include a deal. Offer gift suggestions, holiday décor ideas, and more.
q The photos you choose to
represent your store need to stand out on a busy news feed. Choose photos that
are easily identifiable and add a holiday twist.
q Talk about product and services
that make great holiday gifts. Always include a photo, and pepper your posts
with the words Christmas, Hanukkah and Holiday. Gift certificates are strong
sellers during the holidays, so promote them weekly. Use Facebook’s Post
Promoter to draw attention to posts you don’t want fans to miss.
q Offer coupons and inside deals
that are only available via your social medias – if someone is not a friend or
follower they miss out. Encourage customers to join you online via your social
medias, website, e-mail blasts, newsletters, and signing in your store.
q Use the Facebook Events tab to
help you organize and promote your holiday happenings. Invite friends and fans,
and encourage them to invite their friends as well. You can see who RSVPs,
comments, and more.
q On
Twitter, holiday related
hashtags – #Christmas, #Hanukkah #holiday, #gifts, #coupons, #Santa, etc. – at
the end of your tweets will help you connect with an audience that reaches far
beyond your current followers.
And when Holiday 2012 is over, after you take that well
deserved, week-long vacation in Hawaii – BACK TO REALITY! When the holiday dust
settles, make notes about what worked and what didn’t, and what you wish you would have done
differently. Your notes will be important when it’s time to plan Holiday 2013.
Yep, retail is in the details. If you get stuck for ideas, give us a
call. We’ll always happy to help!
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