Festive Holidays Business Christmas Checklist:
Now we are in the 2nd week of December and Christmas is looming fast you should be in the busiest period of your year if you are an online retailer with products in demand at Christmas. So how can you make sure you keep things running smoothly now and over the holidays and New Year so when it’s time to come back you aren’t greeted with an almighty mess.
We have put together a handy guide to make sure you don’t forget anything at all and keep your customers happy throughout the festive period.
Auto Responder Switched On
Nothing makes customers both old and new nervous and quick to worry then unanswered emails, especially when it’s bene days. Over the Christmas period you will still get people emailing you about old orders, sales enquiries and returns queries. If you aren’t going to be in the office to reply to these emails always ensure you have the auto-responder switched on with full details of your opening times and other essential basic info the customer might be after.
Clear Opening Times Displayed
If you are a high street store then always make sure you have your opening times clearly displayed in your windows and also on any website you have. Each business is different when it comes to opening over Christmas and the New Year and you need to make sure customers are aware of when these are. If you are an online only retailer maybe send out an email to all customers past and present with details of your opening times.
Returns Procedure
For most retailers Christmas is the busiest time of the year. This also means returns are more likely to increase also. Having a clear and simple returns policy on your website will reduce the amount of emails you receive asking questions on this, saving you time answering questions that the customer can find themselves. Make sure you include dates you re-open and the procedure is easy to understand.
Sale Launch Dates Advertised
Everybody loves a sale and people are keenly sat by their PC or phone over the holidays waiting for online sales to launch. If you are planning on having a business sale then make sure you have the full details of when it starts on your website or shop window if you only own a high street store. Include any details such as 10% off all items or certain categories etc. If you are an online retailer then have details of your sale on your homepage with clear links to all sale categories too.
Newsletters Sent Out
Always make sure you send out a pre-Christmas newsletter with details and info of all your festive opening times, sale start times and any other offers or information your customer is likely to find useful. Do this as early as possible in December. We even recommend you have follow up newsletters say 1 day before your sale date to remind people so they don’t miss it. Never bombard the customer with too many newsletters.
Social Media Activity
If your business has a social media presence and you post regular activity daily or weekly then if you can continue to do this throughout the holidays. Maybe not as often if you post twice or once a day but enough to let people know you are still active. You could use your social media to announce sales, offers, opening times too.
Advertising
Don’t forget if you use any form of paid advertising such as PPC (Pay per click) to pause these over the festive period if you won’t be supplying any services or products.
