Extra Sales To Cash In On

Seasonal events such as Easter, sunny summer holidays and Christmas can be extra busy for many outlets. This is a chance for businesses to claw back some revenue. It may be that your business is struggling to achieve the sales you need to remain profitable throughout the year. Now is the time to excel in creating a shopping or dining experience that sets your business above the rest. These peak season trading months can make a real difference to your business’s bottom line profits. For instance many businesses trade on a slight loss or just break even most of the year. Then these seasonal months add to the profits. During Christmas or Easter the amount people spend in shops, pubs and bars increases. Everyone wants to make sure that Christmas is a great time for their family. So even if they watch the pennies all year round most tend to splurge out a bit more over Christmas. Make sure that customers are spending in your outlet not your competitors.

Christmas Kerching!

The figures stack up with data showing that over 46 million pounds sterling was taken in retail sales alone in December 2018. You would like a chunk of that going into your tills, wouldn’t you? The Christmas season seems to get earlier and earlier each year and the planning gets more frantic. This means that as a business owner you need to be thinking ahead . You have to ensure that your tills are ringing through those sales and customers are kept happy. Hopefully this means they will return again and again to spend.

Most shopping centres have late night opening for Christmas buying in December. These hours offer customers an extended shopping experience and more chances to spend. It is the customers’ expectation that they will be able to shop much later and enjoy doing so.

Bank Of England figures show how much more is spent in the UK on average over Christmas, and what we buy! There is much room for all businesses to make some extra sales. You just need a bit of planning and some clever marketing.

Marketing Makes Money

 

Customers really do want to enjoy their Christmas shopping experience. So a few key marketing ploys could make the difference whether they choose to shop with your outlet or your competitors down the road. Don’t worry if you are a small business obviously you will not have such a large budget as the main high street names. This doesn’t mean that you can’t attract shoppers to your store in much the same way, however.

Take a look at some of the main high street stores how do they make their stores appealing to customers for increasing Christmas sales? You can then adapt these ideas to suit your own store. Go for a streamlined look with not too many gaudy colours in store. Have some bling or glitzy decorations but don’t go overboard. Think about stockpiling certain goods that you want to sell in high volumes but make sure people can get around your store safely, too. A lovely seasonal window display can entice customers inside to spend their money.

There are a lot of printers who will do small runs for great pricing. Contact a local printer and ask them to create some themed banners or shop posters. These will attract customers but also keep your business identity on show. Most will be happy to give you some ideas on creating the finished product.

Here are some fantastic marketing ideas for small businesses. These can give you some ideas for you to try for your business. You don’t have to follow them to the letter but make them your own.

All Hands To Deck

 

To handle all those extra sales and customers you may well need to take on some extra staff. Don’t forget your staff will need time off to recuperate and be ready and able to make the customers feel valued. So spread the load and make sure you get every possible assistance from staff. Why not get them to sell more with little competitions or sales targets. Even a few mince pies and some non-alcoholic fizz in the staff room would be appreciated and make them feel they can put in more effort on the shop floor.

To handle all those extra sales and customers you may well need to take on some extra staff. Don’t forget your staff will need time off to recuperate and be ready and able to make the customers feel valued. So spread the load and make sure you get every possible assistance from staff. Why not get them to sell more with little competitions or sales targets. Even a few mince pies and some non-alcoholic fizz in the staff room would be appreciated and make them feel they can put in more effort on the shop floor.

EPOS Rental Gives Potential

 

Sometimes you just need a little more help if you are to get by. During busy seasonal periods like Christmas or after Christmas sales it is easy to think of getting money in the till without thinking of the till itself. You may have been considering replacing your EPOS system for a while, as it is past it’s best. Or your tills may not be capable enough to handle a larger volume of sales and so you need extras in situ.

Now is not the time to take chances with defunct technology. Unfortunately a lot of Christmas or seasonal trading can mean make or break for businesses. If you can’t offer customers the service they expect then they will go elsewhere. This includes an easy to navigate store, friendly staff with a quick and easy shopping experience. A slow sales process at the till or long queues in store will put customers off.

Breezy Tech offer a quick and easy service for renting a till for busy periods. We can take the headache out of the season for you. The rental EPOS system will be set up just like a permanent solution. Have a look at our EPOS till solutions to see what we can offer. It will have your stock products, staff details and pricing all ready to use. The tills are suitable for retail shops or pubs, bars and restaurants or cafes. Card payment solutions can be integrated into the EPOS rental system making the sales process much more streamlined, quick and easy for customers.

And if your EPOS is not up to scratch to handle those sales any time of the year let Breezy Tech quote you for a whole new system linked to a forward thinking card payment solution. You’ll soon see the difference.

Stretch Out The Seasonal Spending

 

However, the Christmas season does seem to last longer each year. Most people don’t want the fun to end so shopping over the Christmas holidays has become a favourite pastime. Many people have cash as a present from Santa and so will want to spend it during the Christmas break. Others will have waited to see how much they can get for their money with the sales they have come to expect for this time of the year.

So back to marketing again: keep your outlet looking festive and smart, people want that Christmas feeling to last before they return to work. Offer some real bargains for your customers to spend their money on. It’s a good time of the year to get rid of some of those overstocked products or short life items. People just love a bargain.

Keep yourself within the law – it may be tempting to fudge figures to get rid of some rubbish stock or infer that a bargain is to be had when it isn’t. The law states that all marketing and advertising must be: an accurate description of the product or service, legal, decent, truthful, honest and socially responsible (not encouraging illegal, unsafe or anti-social behaviour).For more guidelines you can read this article on Marketing And Advertising: the law from Gov.uk.

After Christmas Sales

 

OK you’ve had the splurge of pre-Christmas sales and hopefully your tills have been ringing more, but then comes the lean months after the hype of the season has died down. It can be very difficult to trade through these months when everyone seems to be drawing in the purse strings after splurging out. If you have hired a till at least you can return your epos rental having benefited from extra sales.

People do still spend money in stores and pubs or bars but they tend to want bargains. This is the time to look at what you can offer that is different to your competitors. If you are great at customer service or are the only shop in the area that sells a certain product: shout out about it!

This is traditionally a time when customers may be on a path to self improvement with New Year’s resolutions. Feed into what the bigger stores are offering and add your own twist. Look at trends in other stores – you may notice supermarkets roll out storage solutions and home improvement products. Think about how you can fit in with these trends in your store or outlet.

Take heart Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and then the busy Easter and Summer trading times, too. And then you’ll need those EPOS rental tills back in store again.