As people are preparing for summer vacations, and kids are out of school, one thing I hear year after year from business owners is that business has slows during the summer months. Whether you have a brick and mortar shop or you have a shingle online, you may notice this, too.
So what can business owners do if sales slow down in the summer months? Let’s be strategic and get out ahead of this.
1. Plan your promotional calendar: For e-commerce businesses, you will likely have built in promotional opportunities with Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, and Labor Day. So use these dates to your advantage. Whether you want to use a coupon, coupon code for your online business, or add a bonus to orders, now’s the time to plan for this and to create images and videos to share on social media.
2. Diversify: If slowdown is inherent in your market (like a yoga teacher I have worked with), then get creative about what you can do differently this summer. Think about it like short sprints rather than a marathon. Could you offer… a Workshop? Bootcamp? Seminar? Webinar? Short-term consulting? Make a summer-only product? (Starbucks just did this with their mini drinks.) Cater to a slightly new market? Get your creative juices flowing to see how else you can use your talents.
3. Reward your Loyal Customers: I am currently working with a client who has an online store to create a loyalty rewards system for her business. She has grown almost exclusively from word-of-mouth advertising, and she is leaving a lot of money on the table. If people will shout her product name from the rooftops now, just imagine how loud they would be if they knew they could her products discounted (or for free) by spreading the word?
The trick is to have a product that is so awesome people want to share it, then, find a loyalty program that works with your branding and needs and make it dead simple for people to share it for rewards.
Speeding up sales in the summer is only a matter of your creativity and planning. So what do you want to achieve this summer?
Leave a Reply