4 Ways To Cash In On Last Minute Shoppers

For the past several weeks, the Canadian POS Corporation Blog has focused pretty heavily on how Canadian retailers can increase sales over the course of the busy holiday shopping season. With Christmas just four days away, there isn’t much time left to boost your holiday sales. But there are some strategies that will help you to do so. Last minute shopping will be taking place all week. How can you cash in on it?

Here are four ways:

1. Extend your holiday hours. There is nothing more appealing to a last minute shopper than a store that is open a lot later than normal. For many people, busy work schedules have kept them out of the malls. By the times their work days are done, the doors of those malls are generally closed. Will you be staying open later than usual this week? It would be a good idea if you’re looking to invite last minute shoppers through your doors.

“Many of your last-minute Christmas shoppers will be outside of your normal customers, which means they will likely shop at different hours than your usual demographics,” writes Cara Wood on Capterra.com, “For instance, if your store usually caters to moms of elementary school kids, your peak hours are probably from 10am-2pm, and perhaps 4:30pm-6:30pm. However, during the last two weeks of Christmas, you may find the moms’ partners prefer shopping between 12pm-1pm, and 6pm-9pm.”

2. Cater specifically to the needs of last minute shoppers. How can you do that? Well, what traits make up a last minute shopper? He/she usually doesn’t have a lot of time. He/she is looking to complete shopping quickly. He/she is unfamiliar with the stores needed to buy gifts for loved ones. Wood insists that you keep this all in mind so that you can ensure that such shoppers can find your store to be incredibly convenient.

3. Run an email campaign. By the end of today, you may want to send out some emails to your most important clients. Let them know that you are there for them in this “time of need”. And, if they need somewhere to get some last minute shopping done, your place of business should be regarded as the ideal location. Be sure to remind everyone on your emailing list about the benefits of shopping at your store.

“Spend a little bit of time coming up with a short email marketing campaign you can blast out over the next few days,” Wood advises, “Send out emails reminding people of your ongoing sales. Or try sending out emails filled with last-minute Christmas gift ideas, like the baskets I mentioned above, or other quick items you have in your inventory.”

4. Make your gift cards easy to find. There’s arguably no easier purchase for a last minute shopper than a gift card. Gift cards make shopping easy for any kind of shopper. There’s no worry about picking the right size, colour or brand name when a gift card can do that all for the gift recipient. When all else fails, gift cards make the perfect go-to gifts for people who need to wrap up their holiday shopping.

Wood agrees. “First, you should make sure that your gift cards are clearly displayed and easy to find,” she insists, “Most stores put their gift cards up at the register, so that’s where people are trained to look for them. Make sure you at least have part of your gift cards there. Additionally, putting gift cards at the register makes for an easy add-on sale for anyone already purchasing something.”

If you’re not yet selling gift cards in your store, make this holiday season the last time that happens! To order gift cards to sell in your store, call Canadian POS Corporation at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.