Christmas tips for retailers

If you’re running a retail business, it’s never too early to start thinking about the Christmas rush. After all, the season of gift-buying is probably responsible for a pretty big chunk of your total sales for the year.

But with the massive spike in sales, enquiries and store traffic, it’s easy to get caught off guard. We all know that Christmas is likely to be busy, but you may underestimate how busy it really is, especially if it’s your first Christmas in the retail game. So we’ve put together a few tips that can hopefully help you tame those huge crowds and maximise your returns this holiday season.

Minimise the risks

The holiday season often brings extra foot traffic. You’re also likely to hire additional staff members to handle the increased demand. This can be a potential recipe for accidents and mishaps – especially since the festive season is distracting as it is.

GIO’s Public Liability Insurance insures you against claims for business-related injury or property damage to the public. This could include clients, customers, delivery people or passers-by.

You may be covered if you’re liable for injury or property damage to a third party caused by:

• your business’ defective products,
• an accident involving a customer at your business – for e.g. a customer slips on a puddle your staff failed to mop up, or they trip on your staircase.

You may also be covered in the case of injury or loss to third parties while you’re out and about, conducting your business.  

Basically, the policy is designed to cover compensation and legal costs you’re required to pay if anyone gets injured on your business premises. We’ll also cover your legal liability for damage to other people’s belongings that are in your control. 

Get a Public Liability Insurance quote today

Make sure people can find you

Your potential customers are busy at Christmas time. They’ve got to find presents for their kids, something special for their significant other, something that isn’t socks for Dad, and something small for the office Secret Santa (maybe those socks Dad doesn’t want?). If they can’t quickly find key information like location, phone number and opening hours for local retail businesses like yours, they’ll soon look elsewhere. Make sure your website and social media presence are up-to-date. If you don’t have a website – get one!

Hold an event

Depending on what kind of retail business you’re running, in-store events can be a great way to generate interest at Christmas time. A toy store might have a visit from Santa, while a bottle shop might do a wine tasting.

If you’re holding an event and you’re keen to get the word out, social media can be a great way to do that.

Embrace social media

If you haven’t gotten on board with social media, Christmas is the perfect time. People have money to spend and they’re on the lookout for just the right gifts, which means they’ll be paying extra attention to any shopping ideas that pop up in their social feeds.

Think about which social platform is the best fit for your business. Facebook? Instagram? Twitter? Pinterest? All of the above? Whichever you choose, embracing social media will offer you an affordable way to showcase your business, promote events, highlight your products and more.

Try promotions

Sales and special offers are a tried and tested way of moving stock, but it’s important to choose your promotions wisely. Being discount-happy and throwing a big red sticker on everything is not the right strategy for every retailer, and can severely impact your profits, so think about the best ideas for your business. A gift with purchase can entice people to buy without you having to slash the price on the primary item, and if that gift is a gift card it can encourage people to return to your store to redeem it. Christmas also provides opportunity to theme your special offers. For example, you could hold an advent calendar inspired promotion, where each day leading up to Christmas features a new special offer.

Interested in more turnover tips for retailers? Check out this article. 

Get into the spirit

You don’t have to create a full Christmas spectacular in your store, but a few tasteful decorations can lift the whole mood. Think about the music you’re playing as well – not everyone wants to hear wall-to-wall Bublé and Sinatra, but sprinkling a few Christmas classics into your in-store playlist can really set the scene.

Consider Retail Insurance

With all the planning that goes into a successful retail Christmas, it can be easy to forget about your insurance coverage.

GIO Retail Insurance provides customisable, all-in-one coverage that’s helpful for:

• food and beverage retailers,
• sporting and lifestyle retailers, and
• general retailers.

We offer a range of 12 insurance covers from which you can choose based on your individual business needs.

Learn more about Retail Insurance

Insurance issued by AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as GIO. Registered Office, Level 28, 266 George St, Brisbane QLD 4000. Consider the Product Disclosure Statement before making a decision about this insurance. The Target Market Determination is also available. This advice has been prepared without taking into account your particular objectives, financial situations or needs, so you should consider whether it is appropriate for you before acting on it.