Top 5 Small Business Tips to Ace Your Holiday Sales

The holiday season of 2021/22 will see record sales. Many businesses in the United States have seen a decline in customer numbers, stock delays, and sales over the past two years.

However, the tide is turning. Bain, Deloitte, and Mastercard forecast that holiday sales will increase by at least 7% this year, to approximately $800 billion.

How can small businesses and employees take advantage of the holiday season boom in 2021/22? Five strategies will be shared to maximize your holiday sales revenue.

Top 5 Small Business Tips to Ace Your Holiday Sales

1. Leverage BOGO sales

Ever walked into a shop during holidays and saw a sale that you couldn’t refuse to buy, and then bought more than you had planned. BOGO sales are a great way to save money.

Sales promotions such as “Buy One, Get One” (BOGO), are some of the most powerful. Why? Associate Professor Priti Salvi of S.V Institute of Management says that BOGO sales are a popular choice because consumers get more value for their money.

Research by Associate Professor Salvi also showed that BOGO sales increase the likelihood of a person entering a store to buy something. This is great news for retailers too.

You can leverage BOGO sales during holidays by timing your sale to coincide with a crucial sales day to maximize consumers’ excitement.

Critical sales days include:

• Cyber Monday, which brought retailers revenue of $12.16 billion in 2020, was cyber
• Saturday, November 27th: Small Business Saturday
• Free Shipping Day (December 14, 2018)
• Super Saturday (the Saturday before Christmas)
• Boxing Day

2. Encourage loyalty discounts

You can reward your top customers with special discounts to increase your holiday sales. This will encourage people to shop more in-store.

Offer special deals to loyalty club members or frequent shoppers to reward your most loyal customers. These deals should not be monetary but offer the kind of items that “money cannot buy”.

• Large order discounts
• Every $10 they spend, they get a mystery gift item for free
• Gift bags with exclusive stock that you can’t find in-store
• Christmas packs with candy and a holiday card. Exclusively for loyal members.

These deals are limited to your members so you should promote them in your email newsletter, SMS messages, and loyalty club social media groups.
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3. Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL).

Although Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), services were not common many years ago, they are now a part of everyday life for many Americans. Ascent research shows that only 37.65% of American adults used a service called BNPL in July 2020. This number jumped to 55.8% by July 2021, a 48% increase over the previous twelve months.

BNPL services can be a boon for small businesses and customers. These services allow customers to buy the items they desire without having to pay full cash upfront. They also help retailers sell products to customers who otherwise wouldn’t be able to.

Offering BNPL services to your small business can help you increase your holiday sales, especially if:

• Multiple BNPL options are available so that BNPL can be offered to all customers (including Afterpay and Klarna, PayPal Credit Credit, Affirm Zip, Zazzle, Affirm, Zip, and PayPal Credit).
• Advertise that you offer the BNPL service on social media, in-store, and on your website
• Training your staff on BNPL transactions will ensure that your staff doesn’t get slowed down by BNPL. (As BNPL is still a new concept, seasonal employees can be confused about how to handle BNPL transactions.) Create holiday cheer with a marketing campaign

4. A marketing campaign can help you spread holiday cheer

You can create unique, festive, and fun holiday marketing campaigns that will bring people into your store.

We recommend that you combine in-store decorations and a content marketing campaign to create high-quality campaigns. The combination of a marketing campaign and in-store decorations can bring more customers into your store. This will create a festive atmosphere that encourages customers to shop.

These strategies together will transform your store into an enjoyable experience for everyone, from customers to seasonal workers.

5. Make sure to plan for your inventory

Imagine this: It’s December middle, and you have advertised a unique item. Unfortunately, the item has sold out. You lose thousands of dollars in potential sales because everyone who comes to the store looking for the item is now empty-handed.

You can prevent this from happening to your small business by planning.

• You can overwhelm your stockists by placing extra supplier orders before other retailers.
• Planning for shipping delays
• Use your website analytics for top-selling products and stocking accordingly
• Purchase from small businesses whenever possible (so that you don’t have to worry about late freight or plane shipments).
• Planning for a Crisis
• Click-and-collect advertising so that every customer can get their item
• Task management software helps you plan your work processes

Sell and get into the holiday spirit

The holiday season is a busy time, but it’s also one of the most important! Many businesses find the holiday season to be one of their busiest (but most important!) times. You can increase your marketing effectiveness, attract loyal customers and boost your revenue by planning your sales.

We hope you find the five tips in this article helpful. Get selling!