Are You Ready?
After 25 years in the retail industry, I’ve learned that you never stop planning for holiday sales. For some companies, holiday sales are 30% of the annual revenue. Despite the pandemic in 2020, retail sales overall grew by 8.3% according to
NRF
(National Retail Federation). Online and non store sales grew almost 24%. Raking in a total of $789B
in holiday retail sales. This was compared to the same time period in 2019.
There isn’t any room for error when it comes to driving traffic to your brick & mortar or online stores during holiday. In recent years, the last ten days before Christmas have become a critical time for sales conversion.
Here’s the question to consider now.
Are you ready?
One way to prepare is to start with the end in mind. Start thinking now about the inventory, staffing, systems and operations needed for that uptick in traffic. No one wants to run out of packaging or products on Dec. 23rd. Supply chains remain fragile globally and this will vary by industry.
What do you need to do NOW to secure a strong performance in the back half of the year?
CREATE GOALS
The daunting task of planning an effective holiday selling strategy involves many small actions. Plan a meeting with your stakeholders or business consultant and clearly lay out the financial, people, operational and marketing goals needed for the remainder of 2021.
Then back up your holiday timeline into the small actions that you need to accomplish to be on pace to achieve your goals. Utilize historical data or trend projections (if you are a new entrepreneur) to decide what is needed. Research what the competition is doing. Review sales to see what core products are driving 60% of sales. These are the items you want in ample supply.
Define the niche market to narrow your marketing efforts. Inventory costs money so ensure the projections are credible and relevant. Proper cash flow management is needed to take in inventory now before the sales actually materialize in December. Find ways to trim costs.
UTILIZE TOOLS
Secure the systems you want to use to improve operational efficiency. Update your online retail store with the latest products or collection. Strategically place items on the website for maximum impact (ex: new merchandise to the top, sale product to the bottom). A company's website is now the open door to your business. It is the hub of your marketing activity.
All changes to your website should be accessible on multiple devices and different operating systems (ex: Safari, Firefox, Google Chrome, etc). Over half of Google searches happen on a mobile device. A slow website load time will annoy prospective customers. Don’t overwhelm consumers with so much content on one page. Use short descriptive names and labels.
Give each page of your website purpose. Keep it simple and clean. Make it user friendly for your ideal client. The goal is to move your customer seamlessly through to the shopping cart experience. It is easier than ever to grow an online business.
Shopify
and
Square
are user friendly ecommerce platforms. With one platform you can sell, ship and process payments anywhere.
Update your Google business listing so consumers know where to find you. Buy online, pick up in store, or curbside pick up allows for customer convenience. Quick trips dominated
consumer behavior at the end of 2020.
MAXIMIZE DIGITAL EFFICIENCY
Customers don’t want to grab a credit card to pay online anymore. Consider using a digital wallet like Apple Pay, PayPal, Venmo or Google Pay. Digital wallets are financial accounts that allow consumers to store funds, make transactions and track payment history (think - leave the wallet at home). They can also be used to store loyalty cards and digital coupons.
Make it easy for customers to spend money with your company. Convenience is vital in our 21st century digital age. With all the additional orders ensure there is ample staffing and support back house to move the orders through the pipeline quickly. Be ready for the “anything can happen” scenario. For example, being offline on Cyber Monday.
Throughout the holiday process keep consumers top of mind. Find ways to streamline operations, develop policies for seamless returns and refunds. A positive customer experience will turn that new customer into a loyal fan.
DPI
has many tools business owners can use to maximize holiday goal setting and planning. Business consulting will equip you to thrive and grow during the holidays. Visit our
website
to schedule a free consultation.