Christmas is coming and with it the biggest retail opportunities of the year. Black Friday, and the shopping season that follows gives retail businesses as much as 40% of their yearly sales, which makes it the single most important 60 day period of the year.
It’s an unfortunate truth that these all-important customers won’t just seek you out by themselves, and when they do come, you’re not just going to be able to operate as normal. You need to prepare, getting the message out that your brand is just what people need for Christmas and ensure that you’re in a position to fulfil that promise. One good Christmas taking lots of orders is good news in the short term but if you can’t fulfil those orders in a timely fashion you’re going to destroy your brand in customers’ eyes and may well not be there when next Christmas comes around.
Today we’re taking a look at how you can prepare your business for Christmas to get the maximum amount out of the season when customers are simply lining up to give you their money.
Brand Readiness
Think of your brand as a beacon: it’s what lets customers know you’re there and the right choice for them. If it’s not strong enough, not shown in the right times or places, or to the right people, your ideal customers might never even know you’re there!
It’s important to do your research in the run up to Christmas to make sure you know where to target your research to reach the ride people and strengthen your brand. Brand tracking surveys will tell you how customers rate your business against your rivals and, crucially, why. If you perform this sort of check regularly you’ll spot any problems soon enough to course correct and know exactly how to tune your festive marketing to attract the maximum number of people!
Keeping Your Promises
Recent reports show that the post-purchasing experience is far more important than you might think. 86% of consumers in a recent survey have said their experience after purchasing makes all the difference in their decision to buy again.
Getting ready for Christmas means checking your supply chains, making sure they’re ready to perform under pressure. The same survey showed that people were at least as impressed by clear communication in the event of delays as they are by short delivery times, so giving a more realistic quote for how long customers might be waiting, and having a proactive policy in place in case of problems could make all the difference between Christmas as a one off success and Christmas as a time when you welcome of lots of new regular customers to your business.