3 Simple Ways You Can Boost Your Holiday Sales

We’re just a little under four weeks away from Christmas Day and Hanukkah. The end-of-year holiday season is officially here and Canadian retailers are loving it. At least, they should be! This is generally the busiest time of year for most merchants. It’s important, however, to not simply assume that sales will be big all month. There is still plenty of time to advertise your in-store events, sales and discounts to ensure a successful holiday season.

In what ways can you boost your holiday sales? Here are three simple ideas:

1. Spruce up your website. It should not be lost on any business owner that most of today’s consumers browse products online before visiting brick-and-mortar store locations to make their purchases. Make sure that your website is regularly updated with images and information about everything going on in your store. As Karen E. Klein points out on Bloomberg.com, the majority of shoppers actually prefer online shopping.

“Nearly 60 percent of consumers plan to do at least some of their holiday shopping online… making online the leading channel for holiday shopping, according to NPD (in 2014),” she informs us, “Women are more likely than men to shop online (62 percent vs. 57 percent), as are those with children at home.”

2. Promote your brand on social media. It should probably go without saying that social media platforms are today’s number one source of information for people all over the world. Any business owner not using social media to promote his/her brand is simply not tuned in to the way things work today. On Yahoo.com, Gabriel Shaoolian agrees that social media use is necessary to properly promote holiday marketing campaigns.

“Design a creative image for a Facebook post that is both visually eye-catching and also clearly articulates the details of your sale,” he suggests, “If your holiday sale offers free shipping to your customers, make sure your image has ‘FREE SHIPPING’ in large type so that users can’t miss it. Images like these are more likely to trigger interaction and sharing.”

3. Extend your hours. If there is any time of year to keep your doors open longer, it’s certainly this one. Keep in mind that shoppers have jobs. And, for many of them, regular store hours don’t provide enough time for them to go to work and go to the mall to complete their holiday shopping. Some stores even go so far as offering 24 hour access. While that may not be necessary for you, it would be wise to extend your hours to welcome more shoppers this month.

“Online shopping is expected to represent more than $100 billion in holiday sales…but consumers will spend at least $500 billion more at brick-and-mortar retailers,” Klein writes, “They won’t do it in your store if it’s not open when they’re shopping. Consider opening early and staying open late during December.”

You may need to hire a web designer and/or social media specialist to help you out this month. As well, you may need to hire additional staff to work those extended hours. And, as a result, you’ll need some extra working capital to help you enjoy your most successful holiday season yet. If you need to get your hands on some quick cash, Synergy Merchants can help you!

For more information about our merchant cash advance program or to speak with one of our licensed funding specialists to get a free, no obligation quote, simply call Synergy Merchants at 1-877-718-2026 or email us at info@synergymerchants.com.