Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday are right around the corner.
There are a lot of concerns stirring up about supply chain issues and potential product issues across the globe.
Competing with big businesses like Amazon and Target is tough but your job is to get in front of the people in your community and be seen as the best option to get what they need.
According to Save My Cent, The holiday shopping season now starts as early as mid-October. US retail sales in November and December 2020 totaled $789.4 billion. In 2020, holiday shopping accounted for 19.5% of total annual retail income. Ecommerce was responsible for 25.7% of all retail holiday revenue in 2020.
The common expectation is this is the time of year to slash your prices and create the best sales to attract customers. But I want to share a couple of ideas to help you reframe your mindset around the holiday shopping season.
Your ultimate goal is to make money. And I want to encourage you to up your promotional game. Do fewer fire sales around this busy spending weekend and focus on increasing visibility.
Sale Versus Promotion
A sale is an exchange. You provide the product or service that you have assigned a value to but you lower its value for a short period of time. These definitely work and work well if your customers are highly price sensitive. Markdowns on high inventory items or high ticket items will be a draw.
A promotion is a marketing tactic to draw attention to a specific product, program, or service. The promotion is what attracts the people who are going to ultimately make the buying decision.
Sales and promotions go hand in hand. You can have the world’s best and most thought-out sale planned in your store but how well will it go if you don’t promote it to the people in your community?
Competition is fierce this time of year, not just for dollars but also for customers’ time and attention. You have to be willing to think outside the box to really set yourself apart.
If you haven’t given much thought to your black Friday, cyber Monday, small business Saturday and giving Tuesday efforts then it’s time to take action.
Get motivated to capitalize on a busy shopping time.
Idea #1: Special Events
Not a sale, think bigger. Think of something extra that will get people into the door for a reason other than the merchandise. The holidays are full of traditions, icons, and themes to turn into something special to get people into your business.
Leverage an event to showcase your best products and services. If you push hard on the event, your attendees will naturally open their wallets once they get inside and see what you have to offer.
Create a Facebook event, talk about it on social media, email your list, and print invitations for your friends, relatives, and neighbors.
Idea #2: Product Features
Instead of eating into your profit by slashing prices, think about how to draw attention to specific products with the best potential.
Gift guides and bundles are easy ways to do this and adjust your pricing to ensure that your profit margin is where it needs to be. Focus messaging around a few key items, go heavy on the details like how to use it, who it’s ideal for, and why to buy this time of year in particular.
Window and point of purchase displays are a big part of the buying decision so make it super easy for customers to decide they need what you have.
Idea #3: Create Urgency
Be specific in your timelines. When will your biggest initiatives start and end and are there ways to leverage a specific time of day or a specific timeline to get buyers motivated.?
Cyber Monday is designed for online sales with ways to merry the online experience with the in-store experience to leverage an uptick in sales the entire weekend.
According to Shopify,80% of shoppers last year browsed on a mobile device while shopping in-store and 64% of consumers who go to a store to pick up an online order also end up making an additional in-store purchase. Cross promote online and in-store offers so the timelines and themes work together.
Idea #4: Countdowns
Everyone is well aware of the 25 days of Christmas movies that the Hallmark channel rolls out each year. Its a big deal and they start promoting it during Halloween.
How do you leverage something similar to get buyers through the door at these peak times?
Social media platforms like instagram are perfect for this type of promotion because its visual and offers an opportunity for daily content. A countdown to Black Friday or a countdown to your special item bundle being available or a countdown to the launch of a new product only available on small business saturday.
Idea #5: Value Adds
A free gift with purchase is a good tactic to use but thats not all. Products aren’t the only ways to add value.
Think about ways to create an experience for the customers that is unique and that they can’t get by staying home and browsing Amazon or Target online. Gift wrapping stations, complimentary snacks, a gift card for a future purchase, a charitable donation or a loyalty program incentive are some ideas that will cost very little to implement but can make a big impact.
Small Business Saturday and Giving Tuesday are prime opportunities for value adds because the focus on those days is all about giving back to the local community where you live, work or do business.
These 5 things are easy to customize for your business or service and also easy to implement quickly. You dont have to do all five but maybe you can pick one or look at your calendar and find a way to mix and match to fit a few into your holiday season sales efforts.
Don’t miss out on a big opportunity by just adding a few things rather than always subtracting. Adding to your social media content, your product bundles, your messaging, and more.
There is no better time to start your planning than today.
