Retail Shop Owners: Find Out How To Increase Sales Before Christmas!
You would think that Christmas is a booming time for retailers. After all, millions of consumers are busy spending their cash buying gifts for their loved ones. The sad truth is that many people are taking up the art of “showrooming.”
It refers to the practice of looking at products in retail stores and then buying them at a cheaper price online. It’s something that has grown in popularity in recent years. Part of the reason for that stems from the global economic crisis of the early 21st century.
Photo Source: Flickr
Do you find that Christmas is usually a quiet of year for your retail shop? Don’t worry, you’re not alone. The good news is that you can turn things around and make Christmas a booming time for your business! Intrigued? Keep reading to find out how!
Email details of Christmas promotions to your customers
If you sell online, you will doubtless have the email addresses of your clients. At the start of December, consumers will be thinking about spending money on gifts for their loved ones.
You can use this fact to your advantage by sending out emails with special Christmas promotion offers. These emails could include voucher codes that get used for discounts on the website.
Some shop owners even use sites like Ecard Shack to send out personalised greetings cards with the details.
Be creative with your product displays
Small business owners often complain of how they get overlooked in favour of large, out of town shopping malls. But one thing I have noticed with many of these shops is that their product displays are mediocre at best.
It’s no secret that a large amount of your business will come from passing trade. In other words, people walking past your shop. They might not usually intend to go inside your store. But, if they see something enticing in your shop window, they will become impulse buyers and go inside your High Street home! Music can sometimes play a big part in this too. If your store has some Christmas music playing, it’s likely to draw in those that love Christmas. Businesses can even get retail sound systems set up inside their store, so some store owners should really click here for more information on that. Hopefully, this will encourage more people into the store.
You can be as creative as you want with your shop window displays. To give you a real-life example, check out the window display of a vacuum cleaner store. They used vacuum cleaners to illustrate a nativity scene – the birth of Jesus Christ.
The shop used variants of the popular “Henry” vacuum cleaner from Numatic. You know, the ones with the smiley faces on them! It became such a hit with locals that people were flocking to the shop from across the UK!
Offer free gift wrapping
Do you sell products that people buy as presents for others? If so, one way to entice more customers to your shop is to offer free gift wrapping.
Consumers are more likely to buy from stores that offer this service. We all know that Christmas is a busy time of year. Getting someone else to wrap your gifts will save a lot of time, hassle, and money. Especially if the service on offer doesn’t cost a penny!
You just need to make sure the person you get to wrap the presents up is good at gift wrapping!