Last Minute Retail “To-Do’s” To Get Holiday Ready

Are you ready for the holidays yet? We sure hope so, but if not we have a few reminders for you to get retail ready this holiday season.

1. Get your point of sale area stocked up with add on purchases. Bulk up the opportunities for add on sales by having impulse buys easily available to your customers, including fun novelty products as well as must have items that make sense for your customer. Variety is key. As for price points? Offer a range between $1 and $5, with higher items limited to $10, $20 at most.

2. Have all your wrapping essentials easy to access for gift wrapping requests. If you aren’t already, always offer to wrap gifts for your busy customers. This is a nice touch and is truly appreciated. This said, this little perk only works if you have a gift wrapping strategy in place. If wrapping isn’t your thing, consider having decorative tissue and gift bags to easily “wrap” customer purchases. Some key wrapping essentials include tape, ribbons, tissue, bags, wrapping paper and gift cards or gift stickers to place directly on your wrapped item.

3. Stock up on personal extras in your store. This may include bottles of water, Advil (hey, headaches happen), Kleenex, quick snacks, change of shoes, band aids, toilet paper and other must have essentials. Don’t forget about your seasonal, part time or everyday employees, as well. Buy enough of everything to keep your team happy and taken care of. This type of employee care goes a long way.

4. Reach out to your loyal customers. Personally giving them a phone call to say hello and remind them to stop by this season is a nice way to not only say “happy holidays” but also let them know you are hoping to see them soon – aka, you hope they will shop your store during this busy time of year. You may give them an extra push to do so by letting them know you have a gift waiting for them in the store. Of course, if you do this, this means you need to actually have a gift for them. Wrapping votive candles or other small but thoughtful items can be fairly inexpensive but offers a nice touch to your loyal customers.

5. Get your store clean now before the chaos begins. If you haven’t already, do a real good sweep through your store and clean every shelve, corner, tabletop and visible space in your store. The holidays will no doubt get busy but pushing this down on your t0-do-list is a major no-no. If you are fortunate to have a cleaning service, make sure you schedule them for extra time if you foresee this necessary. If you don’t, don’t fret it. Just plan the time to add some extra cleaning to your to-do-list now so that it doesn’t get overlooked later. Nobody likes a dirty store!

Finally, crank the music up and have some fun. Yes, the holidays translate to busy days and often long nights, too, for retailers… but they also can add up to fun and sales. Embrace the season… just do so as prepared as possible!