With Small Business Saturday just around the corner, it is time to start getting your business ready for our favorite holiday of the year! Small Business Saturday, taking place on November 26th, is celebrated the Saturday after Thanksgiving. As a way for holiday shoppers to support independently owned businesses, Small Business Saturday helps in adding value to local communities. Since Small Business Saturday is one of the largest contributors to small business’s holiday sales, preparing early can help you make the most out of this shopping day!
Here are 4 things you can do to get your business ready for Small Business Saturday (and remember, people aren’t just #shoppingsmall, they #dinesmall too) :
- Plan an event! Get shoppers in the door by hosting an event for Small Business Saturday. Events can attract new customers who learned about your business because of the festivities you are offering. One option can be to have Santa visit your establishment and allow for children to meet him! A less involved way to add the same holiday spirit to your shop, is to host a mailbox dedicated for letters to Santa. This entices consumers to visit your store and adds to the community.
- Host a sale! Sales and promotions are a great way to make your store stand out to the public amongst competitors. The best thing about running a sale as a small business, is that you can get as creative with the sale as you want! Some popular options we have seen within the #smallbiz community are “Fill a Bag Sales”. These sales consist of small businesses selling tote bags and offering a discount, like 10% off, on every item the customer can fit within the tote bag.
- Get digital! Make sure to post early so you can let your followers know about the promotions you are running. Post pictures of your store’s holiday displays to generate excitement around your location and limited holiday offerings. Additionally, posting your inventory to social media pages can give followers gift giving ideas as they are browsing social networks.
- Add digital touches to your store! For those who visit your store but don’t follow you online, post QR codes around your store that link to your social media pages. Another way to motivate in-person customers to engage with your online presence is to offer a coupon to those who leave you a review online.
For business planning and more preparation tips relating to Small Business Saturday, contact the University of Scranton Small Business Development Center to receive no-cost business consulting by calling (570) 941-7588 or by visiting www.scrantonsbdc.com today!
