The long holiday season provides a perfect opportunity for small businesses to increase sales and break into new markets. For online retailers, Cyber Monday and Black Friday feature prominently in the holiday sales calendar. According to eMarketer, the US retail sales for the 2019 holiday season are expected to breach the $1 trillion dollar margin for the first time ever. The US retail eCommerce spending is also expected to hit $135 billion, which is a 13% rise from the 2018 figures.
The sales are largely driven by a robust consumer economy thanks to high consumer confidence, rising wages and a noticeably low unemployment rate. Leading retailers have invested heavily on fast shipping, online deliveries and the advanced click-and-collect strategies to tap into the vast holiday market. Small businesses need not be left behind in the holiday rush. According to SmallBizTrends, here are 6 ways small retailers can attract more holiday shoppers.
1. Get mobile ready – businesses with up and running websites need to optimize their sites for mobile viewing to tap into the huge mobile market. The strategy also entails embracing mobile payment methods, which a sizable number of shoppers see as quick and hassle free.
2. Check the local listings – to get noticed, small businesses need to ensure the information contained in the local search listings are updated with critical details like the holiday shopping hours. The two most popular online listings for businesses are Google My Business and Bing Places for Business.
3. Train your sales people for the holiday – the sales people should be trained to welcome customers and make them comfortable shopping. Studies show shoppers who are relaxed are likely to spend more money buying all sorts of items. On the other hand, having unavailable or unhelpful staff often leads to poor shopping experience and reduced sales. The staff should also be knowledgeable about the products, services and promotions offered by the store.
4. Think social – the volume of sales attributed to social networks is growing and small businesses need to take notice. Businesses can easily tap into this market using social media advertisements to target different groups of shoppers. Some of the most powerful social networks for shoppers include Instagram and Facebook.
5. Get into the festive mood – the staff can get into the holiday mood by wearing festive outfits. The other strategy is offering customers small treats like candy and cookies. On the part of the building, appropriate decorations and soothing holiday music can do a lot of good because shoppers are more likely to buy stuff from stores with festive holiday decor compared to those that do not have the decorations.
Why Cyrus Baseghi is keenly analyzing the changing market trend?
Cyrus Baseghi is a sales lead with Oakland, CA based OSSI. The firm specializes in a wide range of products, namely: computer software, internet application development, system development, database design and Mobile App design and development. Cyrus Baseghi is looking to expand the business by focusing on the small business sector. He has been keenly studying the consumer behavior as part of his product development strategy
