The holidays are officially upon us! It’s a special time of year when consumers are thinking about getting together with family and friends, reminiscing on this past year, and looking forward to the new year ahead. They’re also making plans for attending or hosting holiday parties, traveling, and shopping.
For small businesses, this is an important time to promote their brand and products and finish the year strong. With consumers shopping for holiday decor, food, and gifts items for their friends and family, it’s important for retailers across a number of industries to be ready to capture these sales, fulfill orders, and handle returns. If you’re a small business owner, here’s a few tips to make the most of this holiday season.
Get Festive
Share in the festivities and show your celebrating the holidays by making temporary updates to the design of your website, marketing materials, and social media. If you have a blog, this is a great time to run a holiday-themed blog campaign to share gift guides, recipes, or decorating ideas for the holidays. Sending a special email blast thanking your customers for their support and wishing them well during the holiday season and into the new year is a great idea as well.
Give Back
Gift-giving is a theme for the season, and for most consumers, that includes doing what they can to give back to those in need. As a business, it’s important to get in the spirit of giving back as well. Donating a portion of holiday sales or accepting donations for a specific organization in your store or online are just two ways to give back that get your customers involved as well.
Host A Giveaway
Consumers love to give, but they also love to receive. If you can host a giveaway for a gift card or gift basket of products your consumers will love, that will go a long way. Giveaways are great to promote your brand and products, while thanking your loyal customers for their support throughout the year.
Offer Gift Wrapping
It’s a busy time for consumers, so any way they can save some time or money by shopping with you is going to be appreciated. One way to help your customers save time is by offering gift wrapping. You can also use this opportunity to show off your brand and ensure the wrapping matches your brand aesthetic.
Share A Shipping Countdown
For online businesses, shipping rates and dates are an important factor for consumers when making purchase decisions this time of year. Communicating with your customers the cutoff dates for the various shipping options is a great way to encourage shoppers to purchase earlier and give you more time to fulfill orders.
Consumers are looking to find the perfect gifts and products this holiday season, and are always looking for offers that save them time, put some money back in their pocket, or give back to their community. If you’re a small business owner, having the products they need might not be enough if your competitors are offering discounts or services that make the consumer shopping process more festive and smooth this holiday season and you’re not. Finish the year strong by getting your business in the holiday spirit this season through giving back, offering gift wrapping and transparency on shipping timelines, hosting a giveaway, or holiday-ifying your marketing campaigns.