Business is booming in winter, and you need to make the most of your season to balance the books and turn a profit. If you’re like most businesses, you have already thought ahead about the Christmas season, but if you haven’t, or you are a startup, read the seasonal tips below.
Stick to Targets
Most businesses have an annual balance sheet that uses the busy time to cover the quieter ones; that is one of the factors that make winter retail so important and necessary. If there are any issues with sales over winter, it can create systemic problems for the business later on.
It’s important to plan for winter sales, and it’s also important to stay realistic and flexible; if you are able to support more sales, you should have the staff and infrastructure to cope, but you need to be ready to incur losses too. Sticking to targets helps keep the business more even.
Increase the Margins
With running costs rising all the time for the retail sector, it’s important to increase the margins over winter to cover them. Energy prices and store rents are seeing massive increases that impact the profits and accounts of businesses across the board, forcing some out of business.
If you are seriously struggling with higher costs this winter but are still serious about your business prospering, you need to think creatively and read magazines for retail business. For example, you might decide to close down some stores and focus more on the online retail business.
Review Products
It pays to focus on your flagship products and categories over the winter period and leave your secondary stock for the sale. Leading up to the winter season, you probably have a mixture of products on the shelves left over from Black Friday and the previous collections in the store.
Review the products on the shelves before the Christmas rush and make sure you are ready to cater to your primary audience. Creating a more focused appeal for Christmas will help to increase sales because customers have a better idea of what to buy from you when shopping.
Staff Morale
The festive season is taxing for your staff both physically and emotionally; at the same time, they are surrounded by the festive spirit and might feel as if they are missing out. The first thing you need to do is allow them to integrate with the festive atmosphere and enjoy it as well.
That said, you need to give them a tangible reward for all their efforts over this busy time. Consider extra pay – something that’s always appreciated at this time of year – discounts for gifts in-store and time off for nights out and Christmas parties. In short, make it flexible and fun.
Unique Selling
Make your products specific and unique this Christmas, and you will stand out amongst your competitors. If you are selling Christmas sweaters, for instance, don’t sell conventional ones; sell ones with retro brand names, movies, or iconic bands on them to attract some attention.
