Study Points to Opportunity for Retail Sales During Holiday Season

A recent article is already discussing the need to prepare for the retail holiday shopping season 2011. Yes, holiday. It’s probably as far off in people’s minds as it possibly can be given the heat waves and throes of summer attitude most people are currently enjoying.

But the article was intriuging for a couple of reasons. First, it highlights some key findings from 2009 and 2010 that entrepreneurial retailers can incorporate into their plans this year.

Second, and more importantly, the numbers show that online sales peak on Black Friday and Cyber Monday -- almost four weeks before Christmas Day. Retail sales as a whole, however, don't peak until the week before Christmas. That’s huge news because it means entrepreneurial retailers, many whom don’t have e-commerce websites, can capitalize on the fact that more people shop in stores rther than online as Christmas approaches.

So what? Why should you care about this information today, when you’re still selling summer goods, when the back-to-school rush is just starting, and when post-summer sales and Halloween are still top your lists of upcoming initiatives?

Because this information may cause you to rethink your entire calendar for the fall. It may cause you to rethink your spend on in-store displays. It may cause you to rethink when and how you’re going to market.

Specifically, here are a few key thoughts for your business:

Hoard your marketing dollars until December. I’m not advocating that you skip marketing during November. That wouldn’t be smart. But you may want to look at sales from the past couple of years during November and December and see what your marketing spend was, too. Does your marketing spend as a percentage tie back to the sales you achieved during those time periods? Retailers are desperate to get customers into stores as early as possible. So outsized marketing spends may be the norm in November when compared to sales.

Find a new vocabulary. According to the article, "free," "gift," and "shipping" were the three words used most in email subject lines in 2009 and 2010. Yet using those terms didn’t necessarily lead to recipients opening email from retailers. Think about what’s best for your business and your customer base. You may choose a different set of words altogether to entice your customers to open the email instead of relegating it directly to the trash.

Go social and go mobile. According to the article, Thanksgiving Day sales were driven by social media and mobile devices, where customers were always looking for the latest information and deals. And the world is increasingly using these two media for information gathering. So use your social media tools and update them frequently with different reasons to get customers to visit. And don’t let your website sit idle. The deals you’re running, the events, the offers, and the promotions should all be front and center on your website, as different people use different media. If you’re promoting something on social media, you should be promoting it on your website, too.

How are you going to capitalize on the fact that it’s a bricks-and-mortar retail game after Thanksgiving?  Let's get a conversation going below.

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