For many destination retailers, the holiday season is one final busy shopping period for their stores, with customers looking for gifts to give their loved ones. When retailers plan well, the holiday season can be a very profitable one for their businesses.
With gifts on their mind, people like to browse brick-and-mortar stores near the holidays. By having a “holiday game plan” destination retailers can capture sales and win repeat customers.
To help retailers prepare for the holiday season, Heart on Main Street hosted a webinar on Sept. 18 titled, “Visual Merchandising for the Holidays,” featuring Georganne Bender of Kizer & Bender to share best merchandising practices to drive sales in the last part of the year.Bender is a consumer anthropologist, keynote speaker, author and consultant. She and her partner Rich Kizer have helped many retail businesses since 1990. During the webinar, Bender stressed that visual merchandising is key to ensuring sales for any time of the year.
“Retail is theater, and your store is the stage,” she said. “People need to be entertained and thrilled when they come in the store. Product is important. But everybody sells most of the product that you sell. It’s the experience people are looking for and what sets you apart.”
Do your holiday homework
Ahead of the holidays, destination retailers should know their top-selling products and have plenty of those items in stock, Bender recommended. She advised retailers to review their point-of-sale (POS) system to check their top 100 items and stock up on them.
“Review that list and keep a copy of it at the register so people who work for you understand these items are important,” she said, advising that these items be featured in email blasts, social media posts and physical displays at the store.
Also keep some big shopping dates in mind — Bender said it’s a good idea to plan store events for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.
“Your store has to be open on Black Friday — it doesn’t matter what you do, as long as you do something,” she said, suggesting retailers could offer 40% off on a top-selling item.
Bender said even if retailers don’t have an online store, they can turn to social media to promote their products on Cyber Monday.
She added that retailers should really consider extending their store hours during the holidays to capture more sales.
“For many retailers, this last quarter is when they go from being in the red to being in the black. You can make a lot of money in the fourth quarter,” she said. “Having extended holiday hours can definitely help you do that.”
Spruce up the displays
With many people looking to shop for gifts in the last quarter of the year, having a storefront that is visually appealing can help gain customers’ attention, time and money.
Bender shared a few tips for making sure merchandise stands out to customers.
A destination retailer’s exterior needs to be dressed to impress people. Bender noted that prospective customers only take about 8 seconds to look at a store before they decide whether they will go in.
“Remember — retail is like theater, and the store is your stage,” she said, noting that retailers should consider cleaning up the landscaping around the shop and decorating that space for the holidays. “Do what you can to make the store look wonderful.”
Simple vinyl lettering on windows can help to draw attention to a storefront, spelling out the store name, store number or even a witty saying to engage with passersby.
For stores in highly trafficked areas, Bender suggested putting lights outside their window or at the very least near the front of the store.
“If you have people walking to restaurants and bars near your store, you want people to be able to see into your store to see what they’re missing,” she said.
When organizing displays for the holidays, Bender said retailers will want to place products at differing heights within the display to ensure they are dynamic.
She concluded that cross merchandising products within displays can also help boost add-on sales.
“Be strategic in cross-merchandising — make it like a treasure hunt for customers,” she said.
