Winter is a great time of year to capture consumer dollars that are being spent on seasonal décor and holidays. The importance of year-round sales is important for any retailer, yet as a tourist based business it’s likely your sales fluctuate between high and low seasons. Keeping this in mind, identifying ways to help strengthen sales during a traditionally lower frequented tourist time of year – which for many retailers is winter – is important. To help, consider the below.
Tip #1: Introduce Scarfs & Other Winter Accessories Into Your Inventory Assortment
With the chill of Winter in full swing, there’s no better time than now to incorporate scarfs and other winter accessories into your inventory assortment. An easy way to do this is to simply provide a decorative bowl on counters, in the midst of existing displays and near your cash wrap that feature these items – making sure all your customers see these need-now items as they browse your store.
Tip #2: Incorporate High Margin Yet Affordable Jewelry Near Your Cash Wrap
While winter is not always the peak season customers are spending at their highest, it’s hard for these same customers to resist affordable stylish or memorable – or both – items that will help them recall their visit to your tourist area. To help increase your store sales during winter months, introduce high margin yet low wholesale cost items that will appeal to your tourist audience. An example of this may be if you discover a trendy $5 bracelet at IGES and then retail this at $20 versus a traditional markup of $10. This $20 price point gives you a 400% mark-up on your investment. Further increase your chances of selling these high margin items by displaying in multiple spots of your store to ensure all customers have the chance to see them. Your goal here should be to keep these items $20 or under, making them affordable to most customers. Discover the items that might be right for your store by attending IGES. Learn more here!
Tip #3: Offer a Variety of Seasonal Themed Decorative Accessories
Winter is a great time of year to capture consumer dollars that are being spent on seasonal décor and holidays. Beginning with New Year’s Eve, there are a variety of reasons customers are shopping. From Valentine’s Day to Spring Break prep, leverage the spirit of these winter moments by merchandising seasonal themed decorative décor and accessories at your point-of-sale area and throughout store displays. Among the items to consider include home accessories, seasonal scented candles, name-drop sweatshirts and more. The opportunity for inventory assortment is vast, especially when you offer items that remind customers of your unique tourist attraction.
Finally, as you continue to aim to increase sales during the Winter, don’t overlook how special events in your store can increase sales. Give your customers an excuse to not just shop but also linger and enjoy your store through event experiences. Partner with like-minded yet non-competitive local businesses to create unique events your guests will love, then market these same events through your email list, local hotels and other tourist based businesses. Collectively, these efforts can help you find sales… despite winter… and success!
By Nicole Leinbach Reyhle
