Here we are again, another year almost in the books and we've conquered the Black Friday rush. Now we are riding the wave until the bell rings 2015. But hold on a minute, for you retailers out there your nut is about to be cracked isn't it? The most wonderful time of the year, financially anyway, is upon you and it is quite evident that the numbers are showing that a significant profit margin awaits. Well, that is if you have done your due diligence to prepare for the busiest of holidays and the most important for your bottom line. Most of us in retail already know that this month can represent the bulk of your yearly revenue. So what have you done to prepare for it? Here’s a checklist to consider:
Promotions and sales organized and strategically placed
You've done your due diligence to ensure plans are in place for promotions and sales that will really make them pile into your store/webpage. As the upcoming weeks unfold you've strategic increased discounts and buy one get one promos to capitalize on that last minute customer stress. You know they ran out of time and a significant promo will get them to spend, spend, spend. Now all you need to do is make sure you have the inventory on hand to fill the need.
Inventory on hand has been projected and ordered
By now you should have reviewed last year’s numbers, projected your year-over-year targets and made your agreements with suppliers on bulk discounts. With the fact that you cleared out your fifo back-up in the inventory stock room, or have decided to fire sale it during the holiday rush, you have organized your space and filled it to capacity in preparation, with future deliveries scheduled in case of spot outages.Marketing collateral has been procured
In the third quarter you designed all the appropriate touch and feel collateral to coincide with the sales and promotions that will happen. You put in the orders, paid for it, reviewed the hard-copies for accuracy and are ready to display the material. You've set up your shop to look festive with the reds and greens, or whatever colors speak to your product line, but also to the holiday.SEO and social medias have been ramped up
Ramping up your social medias hopefully began in the third quarter with posts and blogs talking to what will be happening this holiday season. You put out the feelers for what will grab the attention of your followers and now its up to you to put your money where your mouth is and push your brand in the digital mediums.Holiday help hired and trained
Additional staff is key to managing the rush, particularly in the last 10 days before the big fat man comes down the chimney. You don’t want those those critical busy wasted on resolving staffing issues. Retail businesses often begin the hiring process early in the 3rd quarter in an effort to trial new hires and weed out those that are under-performing before it’s too late in the game to hire and train new people. You've trained your holiday staff on workload and educated them on the busiest hours of the day and highest traffics days of the month so that when the rush comes your customers are flowing in an out like a fine tuned machine. Nothing is worse than being a customer who is in a rush at the sales counter with an oaf who can’t figure out the cash register. A quality staff will ease the pain of those long holiday season workdays.We wish you a strong December and good luck
Guiding your team through this month is the key to making the money you've always dreamed of. As retailers we know that a well executed plan pays off and makes all those extra hours worth the trouble, the pains and the lack of sleep. If you didn't get into this kind of planning by now then it is already too late. Use it as a helpful guide for next year. But for those of you who did plan appropriately, its go time. Good out there, they are a ravenous bunch, those holiday shoppers.The post Are you ready for the Christmas rush? appeared first on ezbob.