As we head into the holiday period, and all the work you’ve put into your business’s Christmas preparations comes to fruition, it’s important to make time to ensure your business is prepared for the post-Christmas sales rush.
Whether your focus is; maintaining sales in this competitive period, running down unprofitable stock holdings, or simply making it possible for you to take a short time out of the business, it’s essential that you have a clear plan, and communicate your activity to your customers. To that end we’ve created this three-point plan to aid you in your preparations.
Step 1: Choose and plan your activity
For the majority of small businesses, late December and January can be a challenging period for sales, with major retailers offering deep discounts heavily promoting their activity.
If you’re going to trade well during this period, you need to give customers an incentive to visit and a well-focused offer can do this for you.
The three main groups of customers you should focus on are:
- Bargain hunters – The savvy consumers who deliberately put money aside to spend during this period, in anticipation of improved value for money
- Teenagers and twentysomethings – Many teens and young adults receive money for Christmas, rather than physical gifts, and are often keen to spend this as soon as possible
- Dissatisfied recipients – Many people don’t get exactly what they want for Christmas, and can be persuaded to treat themselves to something they really want
Having decided which customer group you are going to focus on, put together a sale offer which is competitive in your market sector and affordable for your business. Set your discount prices, give your sale a name, and then it’s time to plan your delivery strategy.
Alternatively, some small businesses find this period so challenging for sales that it becomes more financially prudent to temporarily suspend trading and take a short break. If this applies to your business you instead need to plan for; running down any stock at risk of going out of date, the eventual reopening, and ensure you pick the dates which give you the best savings and lowest impact on sales.
Step 2: Delivering your plan
To make the most of your sale activity you will need to have; your sale period store layout prepared, adequate staffing in place for busy periods, and sufficient consumables like carrier bags and sales literature available.
Changing displays over from a Christmas emphasis to a January sale can be time consuming, so make sure that you have allowed time and labour for this.
If you are taking a break it is important to allow time for ensuring the business is clean, tidy, and most importantly secure before you close.
Whatever your planned activity over this period, making sure that you have a practical and deliverable plan will save you time and ensure you extract maximum benefit from your chosen strategy.
Step 3: Communicate your message
Whether you’re ramping for a hectic sale period, or taking some time out, it is essential that you communicate your plans to your customers.
This means; ensuring that you have an email shot prepared for December 26th to let customers know about the sale or planned closure, taking to time to ensure that your website and social media presence have all the relevant information displayed, and ensuring that you have any point of sale and signage required in place.
The post-Christmas sale period is one of the most crowded digital environments of the year, and your customers will be receiving emails and updates from an array of competitors. Supporting your online promotion with effective and striking window displays, local poster campaigns and banners is the best way to ensure that you are getting your message across.
If you are planning a post-Christmas sale or closure, and you need to get your message across loud and clear, we can provide ready to go banners and unique designed PVC banners in a quick turnaround.
So, if you want to take advantage of our service, no matter the time of year, get in touch with us today on 01939 260 377 and see how we can help your business to get noticed.
We’re currently running daily offers throughout December – check our homepage to see what the deal is today!