Small Business Solutions: 10 Last-Minute Tips to Prep for the Busy Season

No matter how big or small your business is, holidays are undoubtedly one of the busiest times of the year, and no business wants to skip out on them. To help you become completely prepared to make the most of the upcoming holidays, we have compiled some tips for you below.  

Order Promotional Signage Today

Marketing for the holiday season is incomplete without your promotional signage. As the holidays are about to kick-off, it’s time to start shopping for your promotional signs, flags, flyers, banners, and decals. 

Giving a warm and inviting feeling, promotional signage helps you extend customers’ time in your store and make the shopping experience much easier for them by directing them where to go. Adding just one sign to your store increases yearly revenue by an average of 4.75%. The sooner you order your custom signage, the sooner you will see sale-boosting results for yourself. 

Level Up Your In-Store Display Game

To quickly capture customer attention, creating a visually attractive and enticing display is vital. Unique displays and end caps are necessary for garnering customer interest. Cloth banners, table cloths, and other materials help create a striking display and a seamless holiday shopping experience. 

Prepare Your Sales Floor for Heavy Foot Traffic

If controlling heavy foot traffic is among your list of concerns this holiday season, you need to strategize early. This will help customers flow smoothly through your store, keep lines manageable and ensure safety.

When preparing your store for heavy foot traffic, keep exits and entrances clear and plan predictable pathways that conveniently disperse and direct customers rather than leading them into high congestion areas. Arrange everything to create an easy flow because an enjoyable customer experience leads to increased sales and retention rates.  

Develop a Display Strategy

The importance of having a well-defined advertising strategy knows no bounds. Utilizing several marketing materials like decals, flags, and banners with actionable content presents varied looks for your messaging, keeping it vital and vibrant. One should start the process by setting clear objectives such as building customer loyalty, increasing awareness, selling more products or services or improving engagement with customers. 

Have a Great Online Presence

Having an exceptional online presence is what it takes to zoom past the competition this holiday season. Not only does your website need to have a great loading time, but every single page and its products should be optimized for Google rankings and positive user experiences. 

A well-optimized website lets you attract potential customers while retaining existing clientele and boosting sales. What’s more, an optimized website keeps dialogue going between your brand and customers whenever their schedules allow. No matter what products or services you sell, customers typically start their search online, so making sure you’re in the mix is more important than ever before.  

Utilize Social Media to Boost Sales

Social media has made it effortless to attract and reach more customers. Through different channels like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, you can significantly increase your sales conversions. They are perfect platforms for advertising your holiday campaigns, successfully targeting your audience, and tailoring your messaging to ensure success and sales. 

Stock Up on Popular Products

Hosting a holiday sales event is the perfect way to thank your existing customers for their continued support. Additionally, an event like this also helps attract prospective customers to your store. Through these events, you can interact with your customers face-to-face, significantly impacting your brand loyalty. 

Promoting an event is just as important as planning one, so make sure you use signage and  social media to share your announcements. You can get creative with your event incentives and offer prizes to customers who participate in the event. 

BOPIS & Beyond

As of late, the BOPIS & beyond (Buy Online Pick-up In-Store) concept has gained a lot of traction. It is expected to continue to play an even larger role during the holiday season. Furthermore, it has become a preferred channel for many customers. When you offer BOPIS service, you can connect your online shopping experience with in-store traffic, thereby increasing revenue and potential revenue. 

Give Importance to Employee Training

Want to hire some extra staff this holiday season? Ensure that you invest in training them. Giving importance to employee training provides an enhanced customer experience amidst the holiday rush. This initiative goes a long way for creating positive customer and employee experiences alike.

There is a lot of work that goes into the preparation and the planning for the holiday season so, businesses need to make sure passersby and customers are properly incentivized to do business with your brand. Focusing on the customer experience while preparing your store and staff for the busy season rush will produce the best results for customer retention and increasing sales.