The Last Minute Holiday Push.

We are down to the Christmas season home stretch. The big day is Friday, the 25th, and all of you can check your calendar to see how close that day is. With all the differences that have occurred this year, it is easy to forget some of the last minute messaging that businesses need to project to consumers. Here is a quick refresher (and some new items for this specific year).

1. There are a ton of Emporia Main Street gift certificates floating out there, make sure the consuming public knows they can spend them with your business. We don’t take any percentage or fees from our Emporia Main Street gift certificates, so it spends like cash at your member business. Reminding people they can redeem certificates with you is a great way to generate sales.
2. Emphasize services like shipping. There are a lot of families that won’t get together this Christmas, but they still want to give gifts. If you offer shipping/wrapping/cards, your sales will increase exponentially. That isn’t conjecture. The Emporia Main Street office adjusted some of our online strategies this year to include shipping, and our sales of local gift certificates and other items have increased exponentially.
3. Speaking of online strategies, you need to promote your web portals, a LOT. Our local consumer research indicates that a growing portion of the public would do more online shopping with local firms, if those local firms emphasized their online shopping options. If people don’t know a service exists, they won’t take advantage of the service.
4. Contextualize your sales. You can’t simply say “we have things for sale, come buy them from us!”. You need to communicate what you have in the context of who people are buying for. A sporting goods store may emphasize that they have the perfect items for the Chiefs fan in your life, a bike store may highlight stocking stuffers for your bike enthusiast, and a food vendor may push consumable items for all the people that have too much “stuff” in their homes but love a good treat.
5. Partner with your other local businesses. I know we harp on this a lot, but the more you keep people in-town, the more likely they are to shop with you. Partnering with other local businesses can create a perceived increase in product options among local shoppers. When shoppers view a geographic area as one extended store, as opposed to several unrelated entities, they are more likely to stay longer, shop more, and increase their spending.
6. Emphasize safety in your shopping environment. I know we have some businesses that have expressed concern that turning away someone that doesn’t follow safety protocols equals lost sales. According to our five local consumer surveys, you are more likely to run off consumers if they see unmasked people or other unsafe situations. Better to lose one loud shopper that refuses to mask up than the ten people that saw lax safety protocol and bailed.
7. As Christmas approaches, consider highlighting gift options in specific price ranges. People are often looking for small items that fit a specific budget. Highlighting those items with clear signage can boost sales.
8. Package services as a product. This is a little tougher this year because events and activities are difficult, but you can offer specific food tasting/cooking classes, a “whatever you sell” of the month club, or serve as a virtual commentator to walk people through products via FaceTime (or whatever program you choose). Small businesses can’t simply act as a place where people see stuff on shelves. You need to find ways to sell your expertise.
9. Push your own gift certificates. Gift certificates make great stocking stuffers. I know that they show up as a liability on your books, but they are a good way to temporarily boost cash flow.
10. Collect contact information. A lot of businesses get lax on this critical element during the shopping season. You need to collect email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses, and entice people to “like” your social media profiles. The more ways you have to reach out to your consumers with targeted offers or new products/services, the more likely you are to generate sales.
11. Create “bring back” opportunities after Christmas. I know that people are thinking about Christmas now, but time doesn’t stop on the 25th of December. Consider adding a bag stuffer about after Christmas sales, think about what you are doing for New Years, and find ways to draw customers back into your business after the holidays that you can clearly communicate to the consuming public.