Christmas is approaching fast, and many businesses have already started to plan and prepare for the Christmas rush. We’ve got some great tips to help you prepare and make the most out of the Christmas period, as well as things to keep in mind to ensure your business Christmas activity is a success.
Plan and budget
Creating a plan for Christmas is the best way to ensure that you can deliver everything on time and within your allocated budget. Ensure your staff are on board and agree with the plan. If you have time, you could conduct some brief market research to test your ideas or plan before implementation.
Inventory
When planning for Christmas check your inventory levels and carefully manage stock, customers will be disheartened if they expect to be able to receive an item before Christmas but find out later it is out of stock. Cash flow is often an issue during this period so correct inventory tracking and management is essential to avoid unsold stock or shortages.
Christmas offers
Depending on your business and the products and or services you offer Christmas may be a key period for selling off stock through a sale or generating new customers for your service. If you are planning on running a Christmas campaign, we recommend following the tips and suggestions.
- Make use of social media – social media is a key platform to push out information on sales and it’s great for finding new customers.
- Paid social can also be a relatively low-cost way to promote your offer to relevant audiences that may be interested.
- Last delivery date – be aware of the last date your customers can order products and get them delivered in time for Christmas. Be sure to mention if products will arrive after Christmas if they are ordered after the last date.
- Create a landing page on your website which collates all your Christmas deals. Link to this page in all communications where you reference your Christmas, this will be a great central point for customers to browse around the Christmas period.
- Review what the competition is offering and make sure you can compete in the market with your offers.
- Use your email lists and promote your offer to relevant existing customers, newsletter subscribers and any other GDPR compliant data lists you have access too
Rewarding staff
It has been a tough couple of years for most businesses and employees. Everyone has felt the strain of the pandemic in many ways, both work and in their home lives. Now Christmas parties are back on the radar we suggest if you can provide your employees with a celebration for their hard work, this year is a great time to do it. Book early to avoid disappointment and ensure all employees feel comfortable and safe with the options chosen. You could also choose to reward employees through a bonus, gift or even a personalised thank you letter to show them that you appreciate their hard work and effort. Rewarding employees when possible is a great way to improve retention, satisfied employees are much less likely to leave and find new roles, and by retaining good staff you can reduce training and recruitment costs.
Get festive
Don’t forget to get festive, we all need a little Christmas cheer this year, go extra on the Christmas decorations in the office or your place of work. Get festive with your messaging too, spread the Christmas joy on social media and in person with your customers and colleagues.
