How to Manage Your Retail Business in the Winter
Just like a lot of spring wildlife, many businesses in the retail industry choose to slow down in the winter. And considering the fact this colder period comes between the two biggest shopping seasons, it’s easy to see why.
While things may be slower in general, it doesn’t mean your shop needs to go into hibernation. Winter is an excellent time to concentrate on business and retail management, as well as getting your shop in tip-top condition. The better run your business is, the better your ability to drive profits will be.
In this blog, we’ll be giving you some helpful tips to help your retail business make the most out of the winter months.
Managing your business in winter
Operating a business isn’t all about the pursuit of profit. Managing your business and fine-tuning your processes is just as important for your continued success. The slower winter months allow you the time to tackle these jobs without sacrificing your customer service.
Communicate with your customers
Keeping your customers in the loop is an integral part of keeping trade moving in the winter. As things slow down, your customer might reasonably expect your business would as well. There are a few ways you can a good line of communication open with your customers:
- Update your social media - In today’s world, many customers turn to social media to get information. By keeping your profiles up to date with your hours, stock, and other news, you’ll be able to reach customers straight on their phone.
- Build a website - If you haven’t got one already, building a website opens your business up to a worldwide audience. Websites also serve as an information repository, online store, and another place for your customers to reach you.
- Use email marketing - Encourage your customers to sign up for your email list. Emails are a simple and effective way to send winter deals, stock updates and more directly to your customers.
Adapt your stock
Depending on what you sell, you should be thinking of how you can adapt your stock to the winter. Customers will want different things as the season change and you need to react to that demand. One example could be a clothing store that realigns it inventory to sell winter coats.
It may also be worth surveying your customers to see what they would like stocked on your shelves. By offering your customers both a range of options and a greater sense of control, you’ll find that they’ll be much more invested in seeing you succeed.
As an Epos Now customer, you should also be aware that we can provide retail inventory management software for small businesses that will give you unrivalled control over your stock. Our POS systems feature a number of different inventory management tools that you can use to streamline your real-time stock checks and institute automatic orders.
Sell online
As we mentioned above, your website and social media accounts can be a great place to communicate with your customers. Providing the opportunity to introduce new sales channels to both local and non-local customers, by partially operating online, you can also extend your business’ reach.
As the weather gets colder, your customers will want to spend as much time as they can bundled up warm at home. By opening up online sales, you’ll still be able to serve these customers. If your customers still want to come into the shop, you could offer a click and collect service.
Gain all the advantages of a POS system with detailed, flexible, downloadable reports, and so much more:
- Manage and update products quickly with easy to use software
- Expand your business into multiple channels and integrate with a variety of online platforms
- Manage multiple locations and salespoints with multi-site management
- Keep queues short with streamlined, modifiable sales processes
- Choose a setup that suits you with software and hardware options
Get greater control over your staff
When managed correctly, your staff members can be one of your biggest assets. While you may have more time on your hands during the winter season proper staff management can be very time-consuming. As a business owner, you ultimately want to maximise time spent working on the more important aspects of your business.
In the Epos Now App Store, our customers have access to Tanda. This innovative application uses smart data to automate admin tasks such as rota-building and payroll. By automating these processes, you save your business a lot of time, ensure your team is placed where they need to be, and are paid punctually and in full.
Automated staff management not only saves time but also improves general efficiency and morale. When team members are assigned shifts that work for them, they’ll feel more confident in their ability to do their jobs with no distractions. Prompt and accurate payslips will also help keep your team feeling motivated and valued.
Lay out your goals for the season
It’s generally safe to say that business owners are goal-oriented people. The winter season is the perfect time for you to lay out your plans for where you want to take the business. Preparation is often the key to success in retail and the slower winter season gives you space to breathe and set out what you want to accomplish over the next year.
A POS system for all seasons
No matter what the weather is like outside, the Epos Now complete retail POS solution will keep you business ready for whatever the season throws at you. Our systems are designed with ease of use in mind.
If you’re interested in finding out how Epos Now can help your business, get in touch with our expert team below.