The summer period can be a challenging time for the high street, with many retailers being well-aware that people generally prefer to be outdoors than spend time inside shopping. While some retailers will see an increase in sales, especially those selling seasonal-specific products or located in areas of tourism, it is important that others without these advantages make efforts to reach shoppers so as to increase their sales.
We’re sharing four of the most established ways to increase summer sales so that, while the temperature rises this year, your shop will remain busy.
Curate A Summer Space
If you head into the summer season with the same shop design and layout as you hosted during the winter period, you’re likely to find yourself making significant compromises to comfort. Shops spaces during winter are likely to be filled with products and displays, not only to maximise seasonal sales but also to create a warm and bustling atmosphere.
During the summer, however, shop spaces should be open to the day, welcoming in greater levels of natural light and ventilation, ensuring that shop spaces are open and cool. If they remain too crowded and contained, customers are likely to feel stifled.
As such, retailers should expand their shop floors, bringing products upward, and displaying them vertically on slatwall panels and shelves, so as to relieve horizontal space of clutter. This allows for a great store capacity and helps the summer breeze to flow through.
Summer Sales
Seasonal sales and offers aren’t limited to holidays. In fact, many retailers find great success in hosting discounts and promotions during the summer too. These can either be as an opportunity to use summer-specific products to entice customers in or to increase sales of out-of-season products, which can be particularly helpful if a retailer is looking to increase both sales and storage.
Promotions can also match various products together, such as a successful summer product with another item that might need to see increased sales. This form of upselling not only increases sales of particular stock but can also help to sell items that might otherwise see lower sales during the season.
Pop-Up Events
Hosting events in-store or outside can be an exciting way to draw in customers who want to participate in limited-time experiences. These events can be tied to promotions but can also be an opportunity to showcase new stock or encourage shoppers to experience certain products in-store.
Such events, and experiential retail in general, also generate a great deal of online content and discourse, helping retailers to advertise their products online and increase their virtual presence.
Collaborate Locally
If there is a local business that might complement your products, then the summer is a great time to collaborate. Retail collaborations are increasingly popular, with retail brands able to share each other’s audience and help to promote their own products with the reputation of their neighbours.
These match-ups can also be related to events and promotions, helping to draw in customers who might be able to access limited time only experiences or products from their favourite retailer, while also learning about a new brand.
Strategic decision-making for your business should with data in mind. To learn more on how you can use data to better meet the demands of your customers, please see the tips below.
Infographic provided by Riveron – expert accounting and finance functions
