As a business owner, chances are you will experience the challenging and dreaded “slow” season at least once per year. When your peak sales season is over, and business becomes sluggish, use this important time to find long-term solutions that can revitalize your business. Don’t sit back and endure the slumps, but instead, use creative and proactive marketing to keep your business growing.

 

How to Generate Sales During the Off-Season

There are certain techniques that successful businesses adopt and faithfully practice to maintain a year-round relationship with their customers. Offering free shipping, off-season discounts, and identifying current trends that are cohesive with your product, can increase momentum while capturing consumer interest.

A well thought out 12-month calendar that details merchandising themes can help generate attention and additional sales. What is the purpose of creating themes? It is to make the shopping experience more exciting, visually appealing, and to motivate buyers to come into your store.

Budget

First, you must consider your budget when creating your marketing plan.

• Do you need extra resources?
• Do you need additional supplies?
• Do you need to advertise or purchase promotional materials?

It’s important to be practical when building your budget. The key is to make money, not overspend. For example, let’s say you own a cooking store. If you are profiling a particular cookware, contact the distributor to see if they offer advertising dollars, as this will allow your budget to go even further. Advertising doesn’t need to be costly, however, thanks to emails and social media. Direct emailing your current customers with a calendar of events and sales, and building a profile on Facebook and Twitter can keep your dedicated buyers in the loop.

Display

If your customers can’t see it, they can’t buy it. Find those critical areas within your business and display your themed merchandise there. These areas must be the focal point to gather interest and excitement from patrons you have successfully brought into your store. When implementing, consider your strategies, such as display racks, wall fixtures, end cap displays, wall shelving, and tables. Keep it simple, but make your merchandise attractive without overcrowding.

Ideas:

Creating themes for your business can be tricky. Depending on your customer base, ask yourself: What do our shoppers want and when do they want it?

Again, let’s use the cookware store. After the holidays, there is a good chance buyers aren’t looking for new kitchen supplies. But because January is a month for New Year’s resolutions, that often includes eating better and more nutritiously. Therefore, a theme built around this idea could kick the year off.  Efforts like this approach are a micro-focused idea for bringing your customers into the store. Appliances profiled this month could be Juicers or Smoothie machines, perhaps woks or any item geared toward healthy eating and living. Event ideas for this theme could include cooking instructions, smoothie recipes and samples or a leading health cookbook author for a book signing and a question and answer session.

Other ideas?

• “Food trends for 2016 û What is the new kale?”
• “Creating a romantic dinner this Valentine’s Day”
• “Cooking with Spring Vegetables”

Other businesses have been successful with using added promotional activities during their slower months.

• Bookstores: “Read a Classic!” Feature noteworthy and long treasured books for a book club to follow. Guest speakers, creative music, and discussion included!
• Gardening store: The winter and holiday months can be slow, particularly in colder climates, but avid gardeners like to plan far ahead. Create a “Spring in Winter Open House Sale.” Include talks by master gardeners regarding spring gardening. Showcase popular new garden tools. Have contests for the largest pumpkin or most creative pot gardening.
• Toy stores: Create a “Super Hero” Week. Showcase a particular (albeit popular) action figure, such as Batman or Elsa from the movie “Frozen.” Hire characters to visit. Have drawing contests. Face painting. Provide coupons.

Follow-Up:

Once your themed event is over, determine what sold out, what was popular and not so popular. Ask your employees what they believe needs to be changed and what worked well.  Determine if advertising was effective, and how you would do it differently.

Having a 12-month merchandising calendar and plan that includes one, even two, themes per month, can help rotate your product, create loyal customers throughout the year, and help increase profits during those slower months. Besides, it’s just good fun!