Now that the renowned “Black Friday” is behind us, have you ramped up for the remainder of the holiday season that can be so crucial to your business? You’ve likely been planning for many months now; but as a retailer and service provider, are you certain that you’re truly ready to realize the opportunities ahead of you at this joyous time of year?
As a retailer and service provider, are you truly ready to realize the opportunities ahead of you at this joyous time of year?
Your goal for the holiday season might be to increase your profits over last year, to improve staff efficiency during this harried time, to streamline the customer experience – or, all of the above. A robust software program can aid you in achieving each of these objectives, and will do so in a cost effective manner.
Would you like to boost retail sales during the holidays while rewarding loyal customers for their patronage? Increasing the discount that your EFT members automatically receive on all lotion purchases during the month of December is one easy way to do so. Or, you can automatically reward your guests with “bonus points” for every new customer they refer to your salon, and only allow the points to be redeemed on product purchases. Doing so will not only motivate existing customers to purchase product, but also to refer their friends and family to your salon.
You might want to offer a “Tan ‘til the End of the Year” membership at a discounted rate for new customers you obtain through your holiday referral program. Simply create a membership that expires for everyone on December 31, and configure a message to appear at the point-of-sale a week prior to expiration, so that your staff is prompted to remind the tanner that their promotional membership will expire soon. They might just purchase an EFT membership to follow!
A sale that is always enticing and simple for you to offer is the BOGO. You might want to consider offering 50 percent off all items in a particular retail category with the purchase of another item at full price. You can configure this promo within your software so that the discount is automatically applied to the second item, and a seamless function for your staff. You can even have the system allocate the commission earned on the sale price, rather than the full retail price.
Another powerful holiday season promo is a minimum purchase discount. If you want to drive service sales, you might consider offering $50 off a service purchase, with a minimum purchase of $150.
We all know that trying to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list can certainly cause some anxiety, so it’s no wonder that gift cards and certificates are so popular at this time of year. As a result, you may want to look at combining a free gift card with the purchase of a gift card. After all, when redeeming gift cards, most of your salon guests typically spend more than the value of the gift they received! Also, if the person purchasing gift cards from you isn’t a current customer, make sure to capture their email address and cell phone number. There’s a good chance that you’ll be able to convert them into a “regular” through future marketing campaigns.
Holiday shopping often leaves many of us feeling overwhelmed – in addition to easing the process for all those involved as your customers support your business, make sure that your holiday promotions make it enticing for them to pamper themselves with a relaxing tanning session, too!
