The last couple of years have been extremely trying for small business owners. With the holiday season nearly upon us, specialty retailers need to ensure they are prepared to bring in and handle as many customers as possible. Here we take a look at five tips for the holiday season.

Develop A Marketing Plan

All of your promotions and campaigns should be mapped out well ahead of the holiday season. That means you should probably get started now if you haven’t already done so. Determine which days you’ll have your sales and what types of promotions you’ll be running. Social media will be an invaluable tool for these campaigns, and you should be posting to each of your company pages at least once a day.

Create A Holiday Shopping Guide

Creating a holiday shopping guide can make things much easier for your customers and help to increase sales. Putting together a small booklet that outlines things like “gifts for kids,” “gifts for mom,” and “gifts for dad” can help shoppers who are unsure of what to get and make the experience far more efficient and less stressful. These guides can be distributed digitally through social media, your website, and email, as well as physical flyers that can be handed out.

Hire Additional Staff, Train, And Schedule

The holidays can be an extremely busy time for retailers, and bringing on seasonal workers can sometimes be necessary. Add to that the fact that many full-time employees will be looking to take vacation time, and scheduling can become a challenge. It is best to get this worked out well ahead of time. New employees will need to be trained, and current employees should be refreshed on policies and procedures.

Adjust Your Hours Of Operation

Many stores expand their hours during the holidays to ensure those busy working or with children will have a chance to come in and do their shopping. Opening a bit early and extending your hours into the evening time can have a profound impact on your bottom line. You’ll want to keep an eye on how much business you’re generating during your additional hours to determine if it is profitable.

Plan And Purchase Your Decorations

Decorations draw attention to your store and provide a festive atmosphere to customers and passers-by. Putting up a few lights and other seasonal decorations can help increase foot traffic and even keep people in your store longer. You’ll want to plan out how you’ll decorate well ahead of time and make your purchases so that you can turn your attention to other pressing matters such as staffing and marketing.

Click below to download our free guide on maximizing your holiday shopping weekend profits.