Tech and Marketing Tools Small Retailers Need To “Unlock” This Holiday Season

‘Tis the season for holiday shoppers. This year, holiday sales are predicted to rise approximately 4 percent, according to the National Retail Federation. That increase means great opportunity for independently-owned retailers.

Keeping that in mind, ask yourself, is your small business ready to handle the big holiday rush? It can be with the help of innovative technology and smart marketing. The following are a few technology and marketing tools to add to your holiday wish list this year.

Website Optimized for Local Search

Having a website might seem like a no brainer, but you’d be surprised by the number of small businesses that are planning to power through the holiday season without one.

This past June, Inc. shared findings from a recent survey of more than 3,800 small businesses. Surprisingly, the results indicated that more than half (55 percent) of small businesses are operating without a website. I hate to be the Grinch but that means more than half of small retailers will miss out on sales opportunities because they’re essentially invisible to consumers.

Don’t let this happen to you. Even if you’re not a technology whiz, and many entrepreneurs are not, there are many easy-to-use drag and drop online tools that will help get a site up and running without a lot of effort.

Once you have the framework, plug in your contact information along with content that uses keywords specific to your area for local SEO. This helps your business rise to the top of Google searches when consumers look for shops in your city or region.

Online and Mobile Payment Acceptance

Once you have your website in place, take full advantage of your new found presence and give your customers the opportunity to purchase your goods and services online.

Technology providers are making it easier for retailers to integrate a quality online payment experience into their websites. There are many cloud-based business applications that provide small businesses with comprehensive payment solutions to help them improve the customer experience and better compete against larger businesses.

Social Media That Strengthens Online Reputation

Another item to add to your wish list is a strong social media presence. Now is the time to promote what your business has to offer, and social media is one of the most cost-effective channels to do this. Yet, according to the 2014 Cox Business Barometer, only 52 percent of small business users are utilizing Facebook on a regular basis to get the word out on special promotions even though 58 percent feel social media is a powerful tool for engagement. The upside – there is plenty of room for improvement this holiday season and moving into 2015.

Savvy retailers recognize the edge social media can give them. They’re leveraging various social media channels to raise awareness for their brands and share content on special deals, product photos and better engage with existing customers.

Many also are seeking social media’s help to generate online reviews for their businesses. They view it as a way to strengthen their online reputations and establish credibility with customers. Forty-one percent of people surveyed about online customer feedback believed that seeing reviews from other like-minded consumers within a specific social network was the best way to improve trust in a brand.

Make sure your holiday strategies meet the mark this year. Start implementing the aforementioned tech tools and marketing practices at your business to get ahead of holiday shoppers and your competition while delivering more cheer to your customers.

Contributed by Stephen Rowley, Senior Vice President of Cox Business. Rowley oversees its strategic direction, including all marketing, operations, sales, product development and partnership initiatives. Prior to leading Cox Business he was the Vice President of sales and field operations for Cox Business’ western U.S. markets where he served as the chief liaison between corporate headquarters and the western markets with oversight on local strategic planning, sales performance, marketing, back office, customer installations and capital investment.