Small businesses plan events, start marketing earlier to deal with shorter holiday shopping season
The holiday shopping season is underway, and this year small businesses have less time to capitalize on the busy shopping period
The holiday shopping season is underway, and this year small businesses have less time to capitalize on the busy shopping period.
Only 27 days separate Thanksgiving and Christmas — five fewer than last year. But there are still ways to make the most of a shorter season.
The National Retail Federation predicts that retail sales will rise between 2.5% and 3.5% compared with same period a year ago. Online shopping is expected to grow too. Adobe Digital Insights, a division of software company Adobe, predicts an 8.4% increase online for the full season.
But small businesses have to work extra hard to compete against bigger retailers. One key strategy is to promote deals to customers wherever you can, from social media to physical ads. Also, cultivate repeat customers by offering special deals to loyalty program members.
Roberta Perry, owner of ScrubzBody Skin Care Products shop in Farmingdale, N.Y., said she started offering a “Buy One, Get One Free” promotion a week early — the Friday before the Black Friday holiday shopping weekend. The holidays are key for her because she makes 30% of her sales in the six week holiday period.
Offering the discount early “has given us the opportunity to hype our own special sales day, and take away some of the pressure from people who start their season the following week,” she said. “It also gives us a week before the true holiday season begins to send out the orders and get set for the next few weeks.”
On Black Friday and Small Business Saturday, she offered a free gift with purchase and then for the rest of the holiday season is offering free gift wrapping
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