Once again,🎵 it’s the most wonderful time of the year🎵 (no way you read that without singing.) Amidst the holiday season comes one of the most popular shopping days of the year, Boxing Day giving business owners another great opportunity to capitalize on.
Boxing Day takes place on December 26th and is among the most popular shopping days of the year, making it the perfect time for small businesses to claim their share of the holiday shopping sales and boost their profits.
As entrepreneurs continue to try and bounce back from the pandemic with the newest roadblocks including the current supply-chain disruptions, soaring inflation rate, and the removal of government subsidies, Boxing Day presents (no pun intended) a opportune chance for business owners to come out on top this holiday season.
It is never too early to start planning, which is why we’ve compiled a few tips for you to consider when preparing yourself for the event.
A great way to have customers pay notice to you during the holiday season is to offer them promotional deals. Some examples of promotions you could incorporate are offering vouchers or coupons, launching a cashback promotion where customers pay for a product and get money back to buy other products, a buy one get one free (BOGO) deal, offering giveaways, or hosting a raffle. We understand that in these difficult times it isn’t easy to offer crazy money-saving deals, but we urge you to choose a realistic promotion plan to execute. Customers will be much more likely to make purchases from you if they feel they are being rewarded.
Consider investing in local SEO prior to the holiday season. With Google searches acting as the new phone book, the higher your local search ranking is, the more traffic and revenue you will pull into your business. In fact, according to research from Google, 50% of consumers who conducted a search on their smartphone visited a store within a day, and 34% who searched on a computer/tablet did the same thing. This clearly displays the positive effect of local SEO and highlights the importance of incorporating it in your business.
This event is also a great opportunity for you to focus on building relationships and attracting repeat customers. Deliver a positive local experience that will turn shoppers into long-term customers who feel valued and connected. Maximize your Boxing Day investment by being sure to collect information on everyone who interacts with your storefront or online, having them sign up for your newsletter if possible (or other marketing promotions), or offering coupons or loyalty cards. This will give them a reason to shop local and come back to your business long after the holiday season.
An important part of your preparation is to take stock of your inventory. We understand that supply chain disruptions are making it difficult to attain inventory, but you want to ensure you are not promising customers items that you may not have in stock by the time they want them. Do your best to stock up on your most popular items ahead of time so you’re prepared once Boxing Day hits.
Boxing Day is bound to be a very popular day for shoppers, so it is important that if you own a brick-and-mortar store that you have designed the layout to be easy and convenient for everyone. Place the items you wish to sell most front and center and ensure you have made it accessible and in line with the social distancing requirements. Another important, yet often overlooked consideration, is your checkout process. Make sure customers can purchase items quickly and aren’t waiting in long lines, which can spoil the experience.
Similarly, if you have an online store, you want to make sure that your promotions and items you want to sell are clearly on display and being highlighted for visitors. Run tests beforehand to make sure all pages and links are operating smoothly. You’ll want to test areas such as your product pages, shopping cart, banking information page, and checkout. If you find any issues in loading speed or functionality, be sure to make the necessary fixes as quickly as possible.
Boxing Day provides a great opportunity for business owners to promote their products and services and gain some new clientele. Put these tips to use to make the most of this year’s shopping season.
We wish you the best of luck this holiday season, and of course, a very merry Christmas!
Sources:
Jayson DeMers (2021, August 27). 6 local SEO stats every online marketer needs to know. Search Engine Land. Retrieved December 2021, from https://searchengineland.com/6-local-seo-stats-every-online-marketer-needs-know-226562.
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