I know times are a bit tricky for many at the moment, we’ve had a rough few years. I do think the final quarter of the year or Q4 in business lingo can be a prime time for retail in particular, with the seasonal shift into Autumn, Winter and everything cosy. If you have a physical shop it’s the time to merchandise for that cosy vibe – or maybe Halloween! But don’t forget your online shop (homepage) too should change regularly to tie in with the calendar, seasons, events and any promotions you want to run or things you’d like to feature. This keeps the website interesting and relevant for returning visitors.
As ever, everything needs to be considered with how it fits your brands, message and positioning. A luxury company might not get involved in Halloween and Black Friday for example, it’s not the right tone. You also need to consider your customers, what do they care about will they think Halloween is kind of silly or are they all for it!
Autumn
Ah pumpkin spice, all things nice and Halloween time again. We all know it’s time for the autumnal colours to come out! And the perfect opportunity to showcase any of your products that fit those narratives too. Think reds, oranges, yellows, chunky jumpers, warm accessories, protective skincare, lip balms, hot drinks, yummy treats, spicy scents, things to do during colder nights. Have a think if you can market your product in an autumnal way.
If it’s within budget you could get some professional photos done or even take some yourself that reflect the seasonal shift to use on your website, marketing and social media. Some ideas could include:
- Your product in an autumnal feeling lifestyle set up like on a velvet throw, fluffy rug, or in front of a fire
- Product photos with some autumn leaves
- If your product is fashion take some photos outside or cosied up indoors
Done well, these won’t look cheesy I promise! I always think of Next when I think of doing lifestyle photos well probably because of their catalogue background. I’ve included some homepage examples from a range of brands.
Halloween
If relevant to your brand then Halloween can be fun and playful to incorporate, or relevant if your product sits well with the darker side I’m thinking witchy candles and any spiritual products too.
Again this can be the artwork on your site, marketing and social media. Depending on the extent to which it’s relevant to your brand you could do a small nod to it with fonts, wording colours etc or you may go all out with relevant photography too and heavily promoting.
November – Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Is it on brand for your business to participate and if you are going to participate then in what way. You don’t necessarily have to do drop down prices and big discounts, in fact you don’t have to even discount at all.
Alternatives – Give back schemes, adding a gift rather than discounting, a longer sale period to avoid the false scarcity of a flash sale, some businesses in the past have temporarily closed their website to make a stand about a Buy Nothing Day.
In 2015 an alternative to Black Friday called Green Friday became an initiative to encourage more mindful and sustainable choices to be made. As an ethical business you could use this term and not encourage people to buy things they don’t need but if they truly want (because little luxuries are not a bad thing) or need their purchases.
I’m not here to judge any approach or determine what is right. I’m not here for unsustainable businesses and encouraging mindless consumerism but I am all for small businesses boosting sales and promoting themselves when they can.
If you are going to participate then make the most of building some teasers and excitement around it. Particularly as a small business this is a chance to reward your loyal followers, fans and customers which is a lovely way to look at it.
Christmas
Next up is thinking about the lead up to Christmas, it is of course a huge time of year for any business with a retail element. Although service based business owners can see how they can boost revenue at this time too.
If you haven’t already now is the time to start prepping for Christmas and all the sales opportunities that brings because there is likely a lot of moving parts to bring together.
Let’s not forget that Christmas time has the potential for new customers to buy items from your but also to make a lasting impression on those who receive your brands product as a gift.
Christmas Markets
Markets can be a great way to get your brand in front of more people. At Christmas markets people will be looking to buy gifts for their loved ones. There are so many nowadays that you can choose one that feels like a good fit for your brands positioning whether that’s an eco themed one, a makers market, local ones or maybe even some of the big name city Christmas markets. You could also look at participating in online markets.
Sales And Promotions
Will you want to run any sales and promotions over this period or in the lead up? The points above for Black Friday are relevant here too and there isn’t a right or wrong but just something to consider and plan for.
There are some lovely ideas that you could utilise:
- advent calendar promotions
- Free gifts
- Vouchers on larger spends
- Gift guides
Look out for big and small opportunities to feature your product in a gift guide, there will be free and paid options for this as well as print and digital guides. If you do consider a paid option then you will need to weight up whether it will pay off in brand awareness or hopefully sales. Factors to consider will be the cost to get a feature, exposure/reach, audience match and the profit on your product (if your product has low margins you’d need to make a lot of sales to make it worth it for example).
You could also directly pitch now to places you know feature gift guides where your product might be relevant to their audience.
Gift wrap
Consider whether you will or won’t offer a gift wrapping service (online and if you are doing any markets too). It can be a huge benefit for your customers but of course costs time and resources. If you do offer it you will need to ensure you or your team (or helpers) actually can provide a professional wrapping service too!
Vouchers
If your business doesn’t already offer gift vouchers then now is the time to get them set up so that people can buy them as gifts.
Gift subscriptions
This might be a challenging one to do if you haven’t before but some retailers and products lend themselves well to a subscription type of model. And they make a great gift. It doesn’t necessarily need to be a a monthly subscription either it could be every other, quarterly, or twice a year too. What a great way for the recipient to fall in love with your products too.
- lifestyle box – zero waste products, vegan treats, selected books etc
- Never run out of xyz
Make sure your website is ready to accept a larger quantity of orders, that you have packaging for shipping and able to bring in help for order packing if needed
I hope that these upcoming seasons are successful for you, make sure you and your business are ready for that to be the case.
What action/s can you take today or add to your to-do list?
Make a list of the things that you need to plan in for the upcoming months and how you are going to participate. Then decide on the marketing strategies and actions that need to be taken.
