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We are inching closer and closer to the holiday season and as far as many are concerned in the Western Hemisphere, holiday shopping officially commences as soon as Black Friday comes around. Entrepreneur Weekly is giving you sales tactics that will help improve your business during this holiday season.

There are a few things to consider before we begin discussing how to ramp up sales during the holiday season. Firstly, it is important to ensure your inventory can handle the increase in demand for your product or service. Assess whether there is sufficient inventory or if your company has the manpower to handle the increase. Secondly, do you have a strategic plan to deploy these sales tactics? Entrepreneur encourages business owners to “develop a sales campaign strategy, this will provide structure and guidance so the holiday frenzy does not overwhelm you.” This plan must include sales and marketing strategies and platforms, target audience, special offers and the return on investment you are anticipating.

Referral Discounts
There are few known strategies that can help your sales to improve during this holiday period, but you must personalise them to suit your business needs. Discounts are a major way to drive traffic to your business, you must first assess what is available in your business to be discounted. Referral discounts in particular involve encouraging your customers to recommend your business to someone they know and offering them a discount for it. This could be as simple as a $500 discount when a customer refers to someone else. This tactic works particularly well during the holidays as people are generally looking out for bargains.

Free Offers
If you can also afford to offer free things, this can be a good sales strategy. Wordstream says, “During the holiday season people are in shopping mode, so offering something free might be a breath of fresh air to them, and may even encourage them to even buy from you.” Free offers can be additional products or complementary gifts that go well with a purchase. This has the capacity to encourage customers to return to your business.

Run Time Limited Sales
Running time limited pop-up sales is another way to boost sales. According to Wordstream “With this method you increase your discount or offer an exclusive deal just for a few hours such as 45% off for one hour only. You can even do this 2-3 times in a day.” You can also use pop-ups and timers to alert users of limited time sales.

Ramp Up Marketing to Improve Sales
It is important that all your special holiday offerings are visible to your customers, so include these offers on your website, and any other platform your business uses. When marketing to increase sales you must consider what content engages your customers the most. Forbes Magazine says incorporating video and audio content does wonders to improve engagement. “Modern consumers crave authenticity from brands and videos fulfill that craving like no other content can. They appeal to consumers’ eyes and ears. Video has become one of the most effective mediums for driving customer engagement.” Doing fun audio and video content that drives customers to make a purchase during the festive season can be a very useful tactic.

Email marketing is another marketing tactic that can drive sales. During the holiday season, your business can run an email series on various topics that are relevant to the season and your business and then include holiday deals in your regular newsletters.

Use your website and landing pages to communicate your holiday specific campaign. You must Make it clear that you’re offering something special for the holiday and strategically place these on pages that customers can access and even right then and there make a purchase.

JBDC and Your Retail Business
The Jamaica Business Development Corporation (JBDC) owns the Things Jamaican™ brand and operates its retail store chain and ecommerce website www.thingsjamaicanshopping.com. Things Jamaican™ has established itself as one of the largest purchasers, retailers, and promoters of authentic Jamaican products of the highest quality. Things Jamaican™ currently markets products on behalf of over 600 active producers island-wide through our chain of three (3) locations: Corporate Office, Devon House and Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston. Be sure to log in and check out their current campaign – ‘Rev up, Tun up, Liv up’.

JBDC provides the opportunity for entrepreneurs to learn and grow through various channels. Register to become a client through the JBDC website at www.jbdc.net. Also check out this episode of the JBDC Virtual Biz Zone on Key Selling Strategies to Drive Revenue https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0rB7MG-1HM.

Sources
https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2021/11/18/boost-holiday-sales-and-revenue

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rhettpower/2021/11/07/3-tips-to-help-your-business-drive-more-sales-this-holiday-season/?sh=7e6ba00d31fb

https://www.entrepreneur.com/growing-a-business/to-maximize-holiday-sales-start-planning-your-marketing/248165

Author

Corporate Communications