How Your Business Can Make The Most Out Of The Festive Season

 

Introduction

We Indians love our festivals and celebrate them with joy. Especially the last quarter of our calendar year has many festivals lined up one after the other.

So, why is the festive season important? People tend to go on a shopping spree in the festive season to buy new items for themselves, their homes or to give as gifts to family, employees and friends. This is also a good time for business owners as they can make the most of the holiday season and earn huge profits.

However, it is easier said than done because every business in the market wants to do well and hence, the competition becomes cut-throatintense. However, with little planning, you can stay ahead of the competition and successfully make the most of the festive season.

Why The Festive Season Is A Great Opportunity?

During the festive season, people go on a shopping spree. For sSome festivals are, it is considered auspicious to buy something new but largely, from food to jewellery, people really want to bid the year a goodbye on a happy note and do not hesitate from spending on things they had been meaning to buy.

With brands offering huge discounts and lenders offering better interest rates, customers want to make the most of these opportunities. With the customer wanting to spend more, it is a great opportunity for the businesses too to draw them towards their goods and services.

How toto make the most of the festive season?

• Do Your Market Research:

You should have a good idea of what your consumers like and what they do not. You should analyse the last few years’ sales data and marketing campaigns to see what had worked in your favour.

Similarly, do some market research before the festive season to improve in the areas where your business might be lacking. Data gathered from market research will keep you one-step ahead of your competitors.

• Clearly Define Your Targets:

In the festive rush hour, it is easy to get distracted by what everyone is doing to woo the customer or how they are drawing more buyers. Therefore, you must set your business goals before the season so that you keep your focus on your own productivity. Whether you want a bigger sale or try out a new product, having predefined goals will increase your efficacy.

• Draw Up A Plan of Action:

Now, comes the difficult part – how to achieve the goals? Well, you need a plan of action. You need to draw a roadmap that will bring in more customers. This can be done by introducing a new product that they had been asking for, or offering mega discounts, or connecting the target audience with the right communication channels or contacting the corporate house to book bulk orders.  

• Plan A Marketing Strategy:

Once you set your goals, you need to market it well. Supposedly, this festival season you are introducing a new product, then you need to get the word out about its features and price. With a solid marketing strategy, you will be able to reach potential buyers. You need to plan your advertising campaigns and other promotional activities strategically to gain the maximum out of them. 

• Finish Any Backlogs:

As a business owner, you will find it very difficult to manage backend work once the high volume sales and extended hours kick in. The holiday season is less about manufacturing and more about sales. Therefore, it is wise to limit your work at the backend and finish any pending productions before the time for marketing and sales begin.

• Prepare Your Human Resource:

Retaining your existing customers while gaining new buyers does not depend only on the quality of your products. The quality of service is equally important. During the hectic festive season, many people would throng your outlets and handling so many shoppers with varied demands can overwhelm your staff members that usually attend a few people at a time throughout the year. You need to make sure that they are well trained to handle such pressure.

• Organise Your Inventory:

Once the demand rises, there should not be a time when the customer has to wait for the product. The ‘we are out of stock’ excuse can have a detrimental effect on your business during the festive season because there is a sense of urgency at this time of the year. Your customer will not wait until the evening for you to replenish your stocks. Therefore, anticipate the demand and keep your inventory ready accordingly to last the holiday season.

• Check Your Online Portals:

Many people rely on online shopping to save time. So, if your consumers prefer ordering online, make sure your products are available on major e-commerce websites. Moreover, if you have your own website, it is the right time to check how much traffic load your server can take. Your website crashing during rush hours will not only affect your sales, but you may end up losing some customers. Similarly, check how your app is functioning.

• Increase Your Social Media Presence:

No marketing campaign is complete without registering your brand’s presence on social media. Be it Facebook or Instagram, millions of people use different networking apps several times a day. You can easily find potential buyers among them. All you need to do is to increase your brand’s visibility and interaction keeping the target audience in mind. Once you establish a positive relationship with your audience and earn people's trust, more takers will rush in as word of mouth of social media spreads fast.

Conclusion

The festive season is the time when customer demand increases. The above-mentioned points will help you capitalise the most from the season and earn big bucks during the celebrations. It is never too early to start planning for the one season that matters the most from the sales point of view and execute the plans perfectly to achieve your desired goals. Nothing will make the businesses happier than a substantial increase in sales figures. All the best for the festive season rush!