Now that COVID has become less prevalent and masks and social distancing are no longer required in many places, customers can now shop in person at the malls once again. The holiday season is just around the corner, which means increased sales as customers purchase gifts for friends and family. As a small business owner, you may not have all the supplies you need to plan ahead for the busy season. This is why it’s so crucial to make sure your store has enough inventory to satisfy all of your many customers.
Elie Katz, President and CEO of National Retail Solutions (NRS), said to start, you need the right resources to help you get started, such as getting a point-of-sale system to check on your sales reports and inventory. From there, we will show you how to decorate your store and what other factors may come into play when planning ahead for the holidays.
“Making sure you have enough inventory is the first step to ensuring you can open your store for the holiday season and take advantage of revenue opportunities. This means looking at each product on your shelves or the incoming merchandise arriving at your store,” Katz said. “Manually counting each product to see if you have enough is a waste of time and effort and can be used elsewhere in your store. Instead, you should invest in a high-tech standard point-of-sale system that can help calculate how much stock you have left and notify the user when inventory is low.”
With your new point-of-sale system, you can also track new hot-selling items. Most POS systems also include sales reports, which allow merchants to determine which items are selling and which are not. This can be useful for many merchants because if they have a popular item that most customers want, it is best to track how much inventory they have of that item so they know when to restock. But make sure you do your homework to find the POS system that will work best for you and your company in terms of organizing and calculating your inventory and sales reports.
“While ensuring you have enough inventory for your business, you should also decorate your store to be in the spirit of the holiday season. Stores that decorate for the holidays instill a positive feeling in their customers, making their shopping experience more enjoyable,” Katz said. “The more decorations in the store, the more energy and excitement customers will feel when they walk in.”
For example, decorate the store for Christmas in seasonal colors, such as red, green, and gold. In addition, ensure to decorate with string lights, props, signs, and holiday trees to create a magical atmosphere throughout the store. Once you have all of these elements, customers will be thrilled to walk through those doors and shop until they drop. If a customer is enthusiastic about shopping, you will have happy customers and a successful business.
As a final step, you must modify your holiday store hours to accommodate your customers.
“The last thing you want is for your customers to be angry that they can’t shop at your store because it’s closed. That is why it is essential to adjust your hours accordingly. It is advisable to stay open later and extend your hours during the entire holiday season. If you have other competitors, it is best to expand your hours, especially since customers may want to go to the store that is open the longest,” Katz said. “If a store has long business hours, is in the holiday spirit, and has all the items customers need, you are well on your way to starting the holiday season on the right foot.”