Increase Retail Sales This Holiday Season

This holiday season in the retail industry is as unpredictable as ever. Holiday retail sales are forecasted to increase from last year, though the expected growth is lower than usual and will likely be driven by inflation. With the trends and economic factors impacting holiday shopping, small businesses must maximize the high foot traffic stores typically see this time of year.

Preparation ahead of the holiday season is key to success. The holiday shopping season continues to start earlier each year, with half of this year’s holiday shoppers planning to begin by Halloween. If you’re wondering how to increase sales during the holidays, continue reading for actionable steps you can take now to maximize your holiday retail sales.

Highlight Holiday Promotions

Many consumers associate holiday shopping with special promotions and discounts. Regardless if it’s in-store or online, shoppers are looking for deals. Create savings with a holiday promotion at your retail store. With the right point of sale (POS) system, it should be simple to implement discounts like:

• Percentage discounts
• Dollars off
• Multi-buys (BOGO)
• Multi-save (Spend $50 and save $10)
• Gift with purchase

In addition, ensure your customers know about your holiday promotions. While it can be a pleasant surprise for shoppers to get to the checkout and learn they can get another item for free, you’ll maximize holiday retail sales by clearly displaying promotions. Having large, eye-catching signage for each promotion next to displays and the store entrance is a simple way to communicate your sales to customers. If your store is on social media, make sure your followers know about your holiday sales. A few posts specifically advertising your sales will go a long way.

Position Merchandise Strategically

Another way to increase holiday retail sales is to optimize your store layout by positioning merchandise in the most effective locations. Use business analytics to pull a report on what sells best and move items to strategic locations like near the checkout where impulse purchases are most often made or in other high-traffic areas. In addition, shoppers who have made it to the checkout counter are likely already in the mood to buy, so the chances of them making additional purchases are relatively higher.

With the increased foot traffic, you’ll also want to ensure your retail store is visually presented well. An organized space doesn’t just look good; it allows customers to find what they need faster, aiding the buying experience. Plus, with more shoppers coming and going, merchandise will likely get moved around to places it doesn’t belong, so extra time will be needed to keep inventory stocked and organized.

Prepare Your eCommerce Shop

Along with your store experiencing heavy traffic, so will your eCommerce shop if you have one. One of the most significant friction points for holidays like Cyber Monday is a website that is not ready for an increase in visitors. Ensure your eCommerce shop is up to date, running smoothly, and prepared to handle an influx in orders well in advance of any holiday promotions so that you can offer the best guest experience.

Holiday promotions don’t stop at your brick-and-mortar storefront. To maximize your holiday retail sales, extend your promotions to your eCommerce store, or offer special promotions for your online customers.

Train Staff to Sell

Your employees are ringing up customers, so if you’re looking to maximize holiday retail sales, you must ensure they are well trained. Empower your staff to interact with your customers, not just run the register. Teach your team how to identify a customer’s needs and wants, match those needs to a selection of products, and show them the value in their options. In addition, if a customer makes it to the register without interacting with your team along the way, automatic pop-ups at the POS system can help staff identify additional relevant products to suggest to customers.

Take it one step further by motivating your team to sell more by utilizing commissions or spiffs. For example, run a holiday contest and track the quantity of a specific item sold by an employee. Then, at the end of the holiday season, pull a simple report that details which employee sold the most items and reward them. With labor management solutions on your POS system, you can quickly turn this employee commission feature on or off.

Offer Gift Cards

Whether your business has already established a gift card program or you’re just getting started, the holiday season is a perfect time to get the most out of your gift cards. Gift cards are a holiday best seller as consumers tend to need quick and convenient last-minute gifts. Gift cards also prompt people to return post-holiday rush. Plus, Blackhawk’s 2022 study revealed that up to 90% of gift card recipients are willing to spend more than the amount on the card, depending on the card value. Gift cards can help your retail store keep revenue coming in even after the holiday season.

Implement a Loyalty Program

If you don’t already have a loyalty program in place, the holiday season can be a great time to implement one. It may seem daunting to consider starting a loyalty program, especially around the holidays. However, with loyalty built into the POS system, implementation is seamless, and you can quickly begin collecting customer information. Plus, you don’t want to miss out on gathering valuable customer data during your busiest season. Once loyalty is in place, you can keep in touch with one-time holiday shoppers and turn them into lifelong customers.

Already have a loyalty program? Don’t forget to send personalized marketing efforts focused on your holiday promotion to your customers!

How to Increase Sales During Holidays With The General Store

Taking the time to implement these tips now is crucial to maximizing your holiday retail sales. Preparing your retail store for the holiday season is a win for your bottom line and will ensure your store is in the best position to offer an excellent guest experience. When you find a POS partner like The General Store, you can quickly implement sales tips for the most successful holiday shopping season.