With the close of small business Saturday and cyber Monday, hopefully your sales (both online and in store) exceeded your expectations. Have no fear if they didn’t; check out the below to see what you can do from now until January 1st.
- Shoppers always want to think they’re getting a discount, so play into that. The two that work best for small businesses include the bundle sale and the two-fer sale. The two-fer sale sounds like it’s buy one get one free, but really it’s buy two items for one price. Since you know the bottom line, it’s easier to make sure you’re getting your profit.
- Give something away for free. Food and drink go a long way around the holidays, so bake those Christmas cookies and stew up some hot chocolate because free means more customers.
- Coupons, coupons, coupons. Send coupons via email to your customer base, and post coupon codes on your social media. To make your most loyal customers feel appreciated, send them an exclusive offer, whether that be an event or an even better sale. Don’t shy away from having online-only coupons too.
- Going off the exclusivity, only stock your shelves with a couple items. When the customer grabs both, they’ll think it was a sign that they came in to shop that day. If you have an option to book appointments on your website, show limited availability. As those times fill up, open up others to make sure your schedule stays full. Being elusive is in.
- Time is money. Since you’re already sending email blasts and being active on social media, post about certain deals that last only one day or even one hour. This sense of urgency will create the extra push some customers need to get off the couch and in your store.
- Tis the season, some of these flash deals can have a charitable component to them. Spread holiday cheer by donating some of the proceeds to charity to celebrate the most wonderful time of the year.
Hopefully these tips will make you ready to enter the New Year with new goals and no regrets left in 2018.
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