How to prepare your business for Holiday Season

Covid-19 has affected every field of life over the past year and a half. There has been an increase in joblessness across the USA like never before. Businesses has gone through a difficult time due to lockdowns and protests later on.

Holiday season is here. Retailers of all types, especially electronics, cellphones, gadgets, home goods, clothing, gift shops and so on, make the highest sales during the last quarter primarily due to holidays, naturally because during the holidays people spend money to purchase gifts for their loved ones. But due to Covid-19, there will be some restrictions than usual on these holidays, and also, people’s attitude towards online shopping has been on the incline. It means, this holiday season, stores have to adapt and thrive due to challenges posed by Corona Virus Pandemic, including;

1) Pre Holiday-Shopping

A lot of customers have already started to purchase for their holidays. Due to Covid-19, there will be restrictions like social distancing insides stores. So, by considering the possibility of keeping store traffic in control, store owners should start pre-season holiday sales. It will help them to reel in the potentially crowd controlled and dispersed holiday traffic in advance.

2) Provide Curbside and Delivery

As mentioned above, there will be high restrictions during the holiday season shopping from brick and mortar stores. There has been a 43% increase in online shopping after the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be a great strategy to sell online during the holiday season too. You can also provide a pre-order option on the store’s website and provide curbside shopping or delivery.

3) Accept Contactless Payment 

Contactless payments are not just the future but the present too. We discussed heavily in our blogs: how important it is for store owners to provide the option of receiving contactless payments from their customers. To keep sales running on the high end and check out of customers efficient and fast, every store owner should offer contactless payment. It will be handy in following the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of Covid-19 prevention and also will keep the customers and employees safe.

Holidays are just around the corner, and soon there will be Santa Claus and Christmas tree decorations everywhere. Start today, decorate your store, and let’s start selling before anyone does.

Sources:

• https://www.cellsmartpos.com/blog/2020/07/01/why-contactless-payment-is-a-must-for-your-business
• https://www.marketplace.org/2020/08/06/how-many-americans-unemployed-right-now/
• https://www.digitalcommerce360.com/article/coronavirus-impact-online-retail/