Monday 5th of May 2014
Holidays are around the corner, and it is boom time for small businesses gearing up for an avalan
...che of orders. Australians love to splurge on occa...
Holidays are around the corner, and it is boom time for small businesses gearing up for an avalanche of orders. Australians love to splurge on occasions like Black Friday, Click Frenzy, and Cyber Monday. It is the time when consumers take advantage of the discounts and buy the same products at lower prices to make their Christmas and New Year celebrations even merrier. Besides the online sales, physical stores also witness queues of customers outside their stores to get their hands on clothes, gadgets, shoes, decorations, gifts, groceries and much more.
It is also an excellent period to purchase a business for sale in Australia and leverage the surge in sales to make instant profits. Most entrepreneurs make it a point to double their sales during the period by attracting new customers and retaining them with superior service. Here is how you can prepare your newly acquired small business or an existing one for holiday sales.
The countdown to the holidays is filled with high sales periods that include the Melbourne Cup, Small Business Saturday, Super Saturday, and Boxing Day. Thus, it is vital to plan for all these events. As a small business owner, you need to identify which days suit your business and how you can use them. For example, Small Business Saturday and Thanksgiving extend an excellent opportunity to make the community a part of your promotional campaigns. You can raise funds or donate some amount from the sales for the greater good or a social cause that affects the local population. It will make them feel emotionally connected with the business and increase sales.
The business owner must set the objectives for the quarter and create policies and procedures to meet them. It is imperative to become vigilant of the competitors and analyse the financial statements from the previous years to understand what worked for the business and what didn’t. Identify the strengths of the entity and work on them to get the best results.
Higher sales require more stock, supplies, staff, and marketing budget. Thus, it is essential to have sufficient funds that can help in maintaining the working capital. You can apply for a small business loan after considering the financial health of the business for the holiday season. Without adequate finance, it is not possible to meet the high demand from customers and it can lead to loss of customers and reputation.
Funds are needed to ensure that the business has the required amount of stock and finished goods to cater to the target audience. Businesses can lose a lot of revenue due to the unavailability of products. Thus, entrepreneurs must secure additional funds to be ready to fulfil the increased demand. They should also liaise with the suppliers to get the supplies on time without any delay in the supply chain and distribution.
The promotional strategy for the period must work in alignment with the holiday season. Create a marketing calendar that includes everything from in-store branding to outdoor and online promotions. The business website and social media pages are the best platforms for grabbing the attention of the customers within a minimal budget. Since the holiday sales are based on discount shopping, you need to prepare landing pages on the website announcing the sale period and send out emails to your customer base informing them about the same.
Posting blogs, images and videos related to the sale online can help in getting the desired attention. Informing the customers in advance about the impending sale is the best way to get them to come out in droves. Use offers like promo codes, loyalty programs, free gifts, coupons, and contests to entice them.
It can be challenging to make customers walk into the store when all the other shops are offering discounts. Thus, it is imperative to get more foot traffic to the physical store to increase sales. The business owner must work on creating a unique experience that stays etched in the hearts of the customers. Thus, you must innovate to create an environment that exceeds the expectations of the customers. For example, building a celebratory atmosphere in the shop that includes theme decorations, lights, point of sales materials, music, free goodies like balloons for kids, etc.
Holiday shopping is a much-loved chore for families, and you can make it special by introducing live musicians in the house or dressing up the staff members as elves who greet customers with holiday cheer and pep up their mood.
Small businesses need to step up to prepare for the upcoming holiday season not only in terms of stock and product availability but also in terms of quick invoicing, stock taking, paying bills, managing staff, processing salaries, running marketing campaigns, etc. Relying on technology can help in making all these chores a cakewalk for the entrepreneur. Also, it would mean that the staff would be free to focus on making a lasting impression on the buyers.
Thus, business owners should adopt automation and get computer systems that can help them deal with the barrage of orders and customers. From using a Point-of-Sale system to invoicing software and inventory management system, there is a plethora of tools and equipment that can help to improve efficiency and reduce the time consumed in completing these tasks.
Online shopping is a big part of holiday sales. If your business is not utilising e-commerce, it is missing out on a big portion of profits. If you have a website, work on transforming it into a virtual store for your business and start selling online. E-commerce in Australia recorded the highest sales in 2020 and the numbers are already soaring in 2021. Thus, it is the best time to foray into the digital world and cater to a wider audience. If it seems too much to handle, you can start with a few best-selling products instead of cataloguing everything online.
Make sure that your website is optimised for mobile phones and can be easily browsed through any device. Also, invest in paid ads to drive more traffic to the website. Paid online ads during the holidays can help in pushing the sales up.
Conclusion
If you are an entrepreneur or intend to purchase a business for sale in Australia, you must be ready with a plan to prepare your venture for holiday sales. The upcoming festivities are a fantastic platform for earning exceptional revenue with the help of adequate groundwork.
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