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Prepping your store for the festive season shopping season

Industry News 15 December 2022

The festive season shopping season is the peak shopping time in the retail space. Not only do consumers readily spend their disposable income on fun activities and consumables, but it’s also a good time for retailers to maximise their sales and profit margins.

Like any other sphere of life and business, preparation is critical. There are several things retailers can do to prepare for this busy season on the retail calendar.

Below are key measures retailers can implement to prepare for the festive season shopping season:

Plan your inventory early

Checking and planning your inventory should be one of the first considerations. Review sales numbers from previous years while making careful projections taking into consideration pre and post-festive season shopping demand.

This requires you to source and stock more evergreen products that you can sell way after peak festive season shopping. If you are
sourcing your products from far away, check their shipping and delivery timeframes so that you receive your orders timely.

Remember to pay particular attention to gift cards/envelopes, bags, boxes and gift-wrapping supplies because they will be needed.

Marketing and promotion

Marketing and promotion are vital in attracting the attention of shoppers. You need to choose your marketing and promotion channels carefully to reach your targeted audiences.

In the current digital age, you can select a mix of channels such as community digital news outlets, social media, direct mail, radio and television, etc.

The goal of your marketing and promotion efforts should be to stay top of mind at a time when many retailers are fiercely
competing to attract shoppers to their stores.

Sticking with one channel will be your downfall because many shoppers may not be on your preferred marketing and promotion channel.

One effective way to reach shoppers making purchasing decisions is through platforms like Guzzle.

With a 120,000 subscribed mailing list, retailers can send custom newsletters to this dedicated audience. Guzzle also uploads about 800 and 900 catalogues monthly with product specials from leading retailers across the country.

Replicate the in-store-experience elsewhere

For many small-scale retailers, attention is paid to the in-store shopper experience. While this is important, you can extend your in-store experience and product access by looking for empty stores which are available for short-term rentals.

For retailers involved in services, you can set up a branded tent nearby your store or in parking lots where shoppers can access
products like mobile phones, credit applications, loyalty programs, etc.

Holiday gift guides

Holiday gift guides refer to a digital collection of a brand's top products, which many shoppers may find worth considering for festive season shopping.

These can be curated to suit your product catalogue but can also be categorised into hobbies, homeware, gardening,
lifestyle, etc., making great presents.

A gift guide should ultimately assist shoppers in making better purchasing decisions. You can enhance these guides on your landing page, blogs, or email campaigns by offering specific products at a discount.

Optimise your website

Online shopping has continued to break new ground, with many shoppers preferring online to in-store shopping. A good website which is fast, secure and user-friendly is, therefore, a must.

Before the peak, festive season shopping, ensure you test page speed by using a tool such as Google PageSpeed insights, conduct a Search Engine Optimization (SEO) audit, check its mobile-friendliness, make certain nuts and bolts are working, make sure checkout
and payment gateways are loading quickly so that shoppers don’t abandon their shopping carts.

In addition, online security for the retailer and shoppers is vital. To achieve this, try to install a valid Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate and use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) such as Cloudbric.

If you are looking for a great website that hosts retail content and catalogues, Guzzle is the name to remember. Guzzle features on the top 10 websites in South Africa.

This website’s traffic between July 2021 - June 2022 was 6,622,646 users, 6,402,607 new users, 14,297,925 sessions, 2.16 number of sessions per user, page views 107,002,023,7.48 pages per session, average session duration 00:03:42 and bounce rate at a
minimum 12.12%.

Staff training

Festive season shopping translates into an increased foot and digital traffic in-store and online.

How your employees engage with these prospective customers will be the difference between selling and failing to sell. Train your staff well in advance to provide the best customer service aimed at warmly welcoming customers to the store, being available to avail them with products and responding to any possible queries.

Consider using customer service software or a live chat tool to make contacting support quick and easy.

Holiday store hours

For retailers in established shopping malls, shopping hours are typically set. However, if you operate outside of these shopping malls, it’s essential to set operating hours so that shoppers are fully aware of the time they should visit your store. Unpredictable shopping hours can quickly turn off many shoppers.

Plan out your holiday decorations

The benefit of good décor must not be overlooked. Good décor makes the store welcoming and triggers the shopping mood for shoppers.

Buy some new décor lights, flowers and well-arranged prints that shoppers can look at and be inspired to shop. This applies to your digital platforms, too.

Give them a facelift with some seasonal graphic design and a website revamp. The guidelines above can assist you in having a smooth and profitable festive season shopping window.

When prepping your retail store, consider Guzzle to reach broad and diverse audiences. Over 450 000 users a month plan their shopping on Guzzle.

Guzzle Media