Thriving in the Peak Season
Many businesses in the Northern Rivers region are heading into peak season, when the influx of tourist visitors plus the extra time (some of us!) have to enjoy what this region has to offer, equates to happy times for businesses, especially in the retail, tourism and hospitality sectors.
Often it is the peak times that will carry businesses through the less fertile periods in the year so maximising your profits during these periods is vital. But what can business, especially small businesses do, to enable you to really thrive in the peak season?
Ensure your online presence is ready!
Now is probably the time to increase your Google Adwords and review your search engine terms to ensure that when someone is searching, for example Accommodation Ballina or Restaurants Lismore, your name is on the first page and near the top. Other search engine optimisation tricks, like keywords, metatags etc are also worth the investment with an IT consultant.
But it’s not enough to be near the top of the search, your website needs to engage your customers. Keep it simple, state your prices, make bookings easy and offer relevant packages that suit the season. Most importantly think about what your customer wants and let them find it easily.
Make sure you can handle the increase in traffic
If there is anything worse that having no orders, it’s having more than you can deal with, and having to refund your customers money. On average ecommerce sites see a rise in orders of 30% in the Christmas period. If your sales are seasonally affected, make sure your systems can cope with that level of increase. Hire extra staff for getting orders out in time and for any special promotions you’re running.
For the sake of our region, stay open in the peak season!
Although sometimes it can’t be avoided, having a closed sign on your retail or restaurant door during the peak season means you are not only missing out on the busiest sales time of the year but it gives a negative impression for our whole region. Take your holidays in the low-season (the added bonus is that you avoid the crowds!) or hire staff to look after your business while you’re away.
Delivering the goods
Make sure your logistics supplier can cope. Consider a courier for the peak period or Special Delivery. If deliveries do require a signature or won’t fit through a letterbox the customer needs to arrange to collect it, which rather defeats the convenience of buying online. So give customers the opportunity to have a delivery to their work address to avoid delays.
Thank your regulars
Remember that all important ‘Thank You’ Christmas card to all your regular customers. Perhaps it’s gimmicky, but customers like to be remembered and adding a present or a discount on the next purchase encourages repeat business.
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Author:
Michelle Dowding
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