Now that “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 months now; but are you certain that you’re truly ready as a retailer and service provider 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 efficiency for your staff during this harried time, to make the process a seamless experience for your customers – or, all of the above. A robust software program can aid you in achieving each one of these objectives, and will do so in a cost-effective manner.
Would you like to boost retail sales while rewarding your loyal customers for their patronage during the holidays? One easy way to do so is to increase the discount your EFT members automatically receive on all lotion purchases during the month of December. 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 toward product purchases. Doing so will not only motivate existing customers to purchase products, but also to refer your business to their friends and family.
Are you ready to realize the opportunities ahead of you at this joyous time of year?
You might want to offer a “tan ‘til the end of the year’’ membership at a discounted rate for those new customers that 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 one week prior to expiration so that your staff is prompted to remind the customer 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 your customers 50% off all items in a particular retail category with the purchase of another item at full price. You can configure this promotion within your software so that the discount is automatically applied to the second item, making it seamless 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 promotion, especially during the holiday season, is offering a discount on a minimum purchase. If you want to drive service sales, you might think about offering $50 off a minimum $150 service purchase.
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 a popular choice at this time of year. As a result, you may want to look at combining a free gift card with the purchase of another gift card. After all, when redeeming gift cards, most of your customers typically spend more than the value of the gift that they received! Also, if the person purchasing gift cards from you isn’t an existing customer, make sure to capture their email address and cell phone number. There’s a good chance you’ll be able to convert them into a “regular” through future marketing campaigns.
Holiday shopping often leaves many of us feeling stressed and overwhelmed – in addition to easing the process for all those involved as your customers give their patronage to your business, make sure that your holiday promotions make it enticing for them to pamper themselves with a relaxing spa or tanning session, too!