The holiday season is right around the corner, so now is the time to start planning. Part of that planning should include understanding the current market as it applies to your specific industry. In addition, a general overview of the market will help you with preparation, scheduling, and expectation.
Due to the unprecedented circumstances of the last few years, many small businesses experienced great uncertainty and loss, while extended families and friends spent less time together and may have even spent the holidays apart. As a result, consumer shopping habits and behaviours dramatically changed over the past years. Online shopping became not just a convenience but a necessity.
This exciting time can also be a stressful time for small business owners. There’s a lot of pressure around that comes with running a business at this time of the year, from heightened customer service expectations to demands for fast shipping, to other unknowns that might arise like a technical glitch on your website.
Whether you have a retail store, an eCommerce shop, or a salon, there are some essential activities merchants can do to get ready for this holiday shopping season.
The key to meeting this moment is preparation and whilst most businesses have already thought about everything they need to to ensure success over the holiday season, there might be a few stragglers running around like headless chickens.
We at Capify Australia have put together a quick last-minute checklist to consider as an absolute must for your business during the break, to help you out;
1. Marketing & Communications
If you haven’t already, decide on the Christmas & New Year offers you want to give your customers to increase sales. Think about what offers have worked well in the past. Offering discount vouchers is a typical customer acquisition strategy.
During the holiday season, consumers are particularly receptive to great offers. Vouchers can provide undecided shoppers with an additional incentive to shop with you!
Whether you’re offering discounts, gift cards or vouchers, make sure you’re promoting the offer across all your channels; website, social media, emails and also word of mouth when speaking to customers. If customers are not aware of any special offers, they may not consider shopping with you at all. You can even use offers as a lucrative way to get a hesitant customer over the line, so don’t ignore the power of special offers!
Many businesses have special holiday trading hours over the break. Your customers are also likely to be shopping more often and will expect extended hours. Ensure that hours are up to date on your business’s website and on social media. If you are planning to open early or close late, promote the news on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to let your customers know.
2. Inventory & Cash Flow
Determine your best selling & most popular items from the year before so you can ensure that you’re stocked up on that inventory this year to maximise sales. Consider any other purchase orders that need to placed to ensure no stock-outs leading up to or following Christmas and New Year.
Chase debtors to maximise cash flow during the holiday period. Don’t get too relaxed or lazy, otherwise, you may not get paid on time which will have a negative impact on your cash flow.
Similarly, think about how you can manage your own cash flow if you’re putting in last-minute purchase orders, have to keep up with payroll commitments and other expenses during the influxes of the holiday season.
Check out our useful guide created for small business owners on Trading Tips For Peak Season.
3. Staffing
Having your employee roster completed well in advance is crucial to keeping staff management under control. Ask everyone to submit their Christmas availability in advance and have a shortlist of backup employees on hand. This will prepare you for unforeseen emergencies.
Ensure your team is set up for success and that expectations for sales, customer service and rostering are well understood. Hold more employee engagement initiatives between now and end of the year. Some team members will likely be less motivated in the lead-up to the Christmas shutdown or lack energy. Keep them motivated and productive (and yourself!).
January is traditionally one of the best times to recruit and that’s because of the whole “new year, new me” vibe. Candidates are looking for new opportunities, and therefore, companies are often forced to try and find replacements.
So even if you don’t want to actually recruit people in December, you should definitely spend the time preparing for the busy month ahead by getting the go-ahead from key decision-makers and writing up the relevant job description so you’re ready to advertise beginning of January.
You might want to check out our new blog What does the future hold for Australian SMEs?
4. Create your holiday schedule
Did you know that many shoppers like to have their holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving? So naturally, you want to be one of the first ones on their list. So promote extended holiday shopping days, including Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), Cyber Monday (the Monday following Thanksgiving), Small Business Saturday (November 27).
5. Offer convenient shopping options
From the comfort and safety of their own home, offer your customers the option to buy online and pick up in-store or curbside. This option can also help to eliminate the barriers of shipping and processing and increase in-store foot traffic. In addition, utilizing a physical store as a place of fulfilment for online sales can help get merchandise in customers’ hands faster and avoid delivery delays.
One final bonus tip….
Take care of yourself!!!
This can be a gruelling time of year to be running a small business, especially given the global pandemic, but don’t let the holidays be a joyless experience. Make sure you are able to make time for yourself to take a mental break, recharge and reset, ready to kick start the new year!
