Mastering the Holiday Hustle: Tips to Make Your Philadelphia Small Business Shine This Season

Stock up for the holiday rush

For many businesses, the winter holiday season is their busiest time of the year. You can prepare for the increase in customers by beefing up your inventory, especially of your most giftable products. Review previous years’ sales trends to identify what customers buy during the holidays, and make sure you have plenty of those items. Place orders early to avoid delays or shortages. Remember, the holidays are a busy time for your suppliers too, so getting your orders in early can help you avoid the backlog and give yourself extra time

Prepare for increased traffic

As we get closer to the holiday shopping season, you’ll want to make sure your business is prepared for the influx of shoppers. Whether you have a brick and mortar location, an eCommerce website, or both, you don’t want your customer service to suffer. In order to keep your business operating at a high level, consider hiring temporary workers for the busy season, expanding your store hours, or updating your website to ensure fast load times and a seamless check out process.

If you’re primarily an online operation, it’s critical that your website is optimized for mobile. Over 75 percent of Americans have used their phone to make a purchase, so if your website doesn’t work well on a mobile device, you could be missing out on potential sales.

Set a seasonal marketing strategy

Marketing is a powerful tool your small business can tap into during this festive season. Align your promotions, products, and customer engagement efforts with the excitement of the holidays to help drive traffic and boost sales.  

There’s plenty of ways to use marketing to join in on the holiday cheer. You can create holiday-themed social media posts, gift guides, and product spotlights and run ads online and in local papers or magazines. Create a sense of urgency by counting down the days to different winter holidays. And take advantage of email marketing by sending out holiday-specific campaigns featuring seasonal promotions, special products, and gift recommendations. 

Get into the holiday spirit with decorations

Decorating your business for the holidays is a great way to attract more customers. It creates a festive and inviting atmosphere that can encourage passersby to stop in and take a look. You can showcase your most popular items in themed window displays, add some lights and garland to your entryway, and play holiday music to get shoppers in the holiday spirit. Support other local businesses by purchasing your decor from them or hiring a local decorator to create a festive feel throughout your store.

If you’re strictly an eCommerce business, you can still dress up your website for the season. Simple changes like seasonal banners and backgrounds can capture the holiday spirit. Plus, you can create holiday-specific landing pages to showcase holiday gift ideas like “gifts under $50”, “stocking stuffers for her”, and so much more.  

Partner with a local charity

During the holiday season, individuals are more likely to donate to charitable organizations. In fact, nonprofits often make 30 to 50 percent of their annual revenue during November and December. That makes this time of year the perfect time for your business to support a cause that’s important to you. Consider partnering with a local nonprofit for a give-back campaign, where a portion of your sales go to the charity of your choice. Even small donations can make a huge difference and shoppers love to support businesses that give back during the holidays, which can lead to an increase in both sales and community good will.

Celebrate the shopping holidays

Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday are known as the unofficial start of the holiday season. Black Friday is the biggest shopping day of the year, and businesses often offer sales to encourage holiday shoppers to make a purchase. According to a report from Tidio, over 87 percent of people shop between Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Unlike Black Friday, which is often associated with big box retailers, Small Business Saturday encourages people to shop at small businesses in their communities. And there are plenty of local shopping events that small businesses can join in on, including Shop Black Business Friday and pop up holiday markets throughout the season.

Your small business can participate in all the shopping holidays. You can offer special deals on giftable items, including exclusive discounts and free shipping for online shoppers, host a holiday open house or festive event to encourage people to stop by your store, and partner with other local businesses to cross-promote each other’s products or services.

Grab some gift cards

According to Capital One, 64 percent of holiday shoppers buy gift cards as gifts. If your business isn’t offering gift cards, you could be missing out on potential sales. Gift cards are an easy option for last minute shoppers. Plus, they’re a good way to build customer loyalty by encouraging shoppers to return, often spending more than the funds on the gift card. Gift cards are an especially great option for service-based businesses. Businesses like spas, salons, personal chefs, and cleaners can instantly become giftable by offering gift cards. 

If you’re considering offering gift cards, make sure to do your research. While there are many benefits, gift cards can also pose some challenges, including the initial expense of starting a gift card program, potential scams, and technical challenges.