Oh, the holiday season is such a fun and exciting time! With all of the events taking place, at this time of year, you’re bound to get stuffed with tasty treats and showered with thoughtful gifts. However, before the festivities can take place, those foodstuffs and presents need to be purchased. In order for your store to be a go-to destination for holiday shopping, you need to make it a festive place to visit!
It’s more than just offering high-quality products at competitive prices. You have to make the shopping experience one that your store’s visitors will want to enjoy over and over again. So how can you make your store a super fun place for gift shopping?
Appeal to all five senses.
When your customers enter your store, what do they see, smell and hear? Naturally, they should see eye-catching holiday decor (along with vivid and strategically-placed signs highlighting your top products and their discounted prices). However, your customers should also smell gingerbread or pumpkin pie (or any other appetizing scent of your choice). Holiday music should be playing as well. The combination is bound to put your visitors in a very festive (see: spending) mood!
“In a retail setting, the ambiance can influence purchasing decisions as much as the product itself,” writes Rieva Lesonsky on SmallBizTrends.com, “By thoughtfully engaging customers’ senses, retailers can create an immersive shopping experience that resonates emotionally. Imagine the feeling of walking into a space adorned with vibrant, twinkling lights and eye-catching holiday-themed displays; it’s visually captivating. Add to that the soft hum of festive holiday tunes in the background, setting a cheerful mood.”
Host a holiday party (or two).
It’ll surely be too expensive to throw daily parties at your place of business. No one is suggesting that. However, it may be wise to pump up the holiday tunes, decorate the entire store and offer free treats such as candy canes and cups of egg nog. With that said, you may also want to plan a holiday party (or two) that your customers are welcome to attend. As Margot Whitney points out on WordStream.com, you should focus your invitations on a select group of your hottest leads.
“Simply have them come to the office for some holiday drinks, appetizers, and games,” she suggests, “There’s no better way to build strong relationship with prospects and customers then giving them actual face time, so why not use the holidays as an excuse to do just that. Create a festive e-invite, and get the eggnog cooking!”
Highlight that you have gift cards for sale.
Gift cards make shopping easy for consumers. They are the perfect go-to choices for shoppers who aren’t quite sure what their gift recipients want. Gift cards also happen to top many holiday wish lists. To boost your gift card sales, Lesonsky recommends you come up with a special gift card promotion.
“Gift cards aren’t only for gifts; consider doing a ‘give one, get one’ promotion where customers buy a $100 gift card or $100 worth of merchandise and get a $25 gift card for themselves,” she writes.
Do you offer gift cards to your customers?
Please don’t hesitate to contact Divvia to learn all about how you can begin offering electronic gift cards to your customers. Call us at 1-877-748-2884 or send us a message on our Contact Us page!
