Get A Business Bump After A Sales Slump

With Canadians counting down the days left until fall begins (sadly for many of us), business owners across the country are already prepared for the upcoming season. In yesterday’s blog, we discussed how Halloween is expected to boost sales for many retailers.

Store owners taking advantage of the season by “spooking up” their shops with Halloween decorations are more likely to attract customers this fall. Clearly, it is the objective of all business owners to increase business, no matter what season it is. And while we have plenty of time until Halloween, there is no time for you to waste to get more customers through the doors.

On the often-helpful About.com, Shari Waters writes of the ways that business owners can increase sales when a sales slump has occurred. As we mentioned yesterday, Canadian retailers experienced somewhat of a lag in summer and back-to-school sales this year, so they are depending on a strong fall.

We’d like to share some of Waters’ ideas in today’s blog. Some of these tips may appear obvious. But it’s all about how one implements them that will determine their success. For example, Waters recommends that you increase your advertising. Easier said than done, right?

Most retailers are concerned about the money that needs to go into the advertising campaign before thinking about the money that can be generated as a result. Waters suggests, however, to advertise during periods when sales are slow “because there is more competition and fewer consumer dollars.”

At Synergy, we are well aware that many business owners feel that it is too difficult to afford a new advertising campaign. Naturally, this is where our licensed funding specialists come in. And, as always, we recommend you speak to one of them for an absolutely free consultation about how a merchant cash advance may solve your dilemma.

Design your store for sales, says Waters. This is exactly the point of making sure your store screams “Halloween” this year! You’ll want to take advantage of as many lighting techniques and attractive displays as possible to encourage more visits to your store. In addition, it helps for your customer service staff to upsell.

Perhaps you can group together various items in one special display to encourage customers to buy more than one. You may also want to consider playing videos or having special presentations (by staff members in costumes?) to display the uses of the products you are selling.

We’ll take a deeper look into these concepts in tomorrow’s blog.