Although Halloween is a time for tricks and treats, that is not all this late October, harvest-based celebration can represent for retailers like you. Long before the witches fire up their cauldrons for the scariest night of the year, you should brew some innovative promotions of your own that will inspire customers old and new to spend money at your physical or online store.
1. Tie your brand to the season.
Regardless of what you sell, there is definitely a creative way to link your brand to the season. If you don’t have a flare for coming up with clever graphics, hire someone to make some compelling Halloween-related designs to go along with a targeted promotion. Then spread the news far and wide via direct mail, email, and social media to first create a buzz and then to encourage people to take advantage of your specials.
2. Use forecasting and management tools effectively.
What good is a fun, compelling promotion if you don’t have enough of the items you want to sell? Fortunately, your point of sale system is equipped with highly effective inventory management capabilities that let you track your stock from the time it arrives until it leaves in the hands or electronic shopping carts of your customers. If you have a few years of sales under your belt, you can also employ the system’s reporting features to create spreadsheets showing what merchandise sold well in late October in previous years. Then it’s a simple matter of contacting your suppliers well in advance to ensure that you will not disappoint any of the customers who want to take advantage of your Halloween specials.
3. Offer special incentives to your best customers.
Everyone likes to be an insider, a special member who receives extra treats because of their status. Thanks once again to your POS, it will be a breeze to encourage your best buyers to spend money over the Halloween season. To that end, send targeted emails to your top shoppers with deals and promotions just for them. This is one of the main benefits of gift and loyalty cards: You have access to a gold mine of contact details that let you communicate and reward people who have already demonstrated their love of your brand.
4. Harness the power of social media.
Sites like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram provide you with a golden opportunity to keep buyers engaged and maintain ongoing conversations that can themselves stimulate more interest in what you are selling. Halloween is a great time to have fun with the playful aspects of the season while simultaneously sparking interest in your featured products. A few weeks before Oct. 31, begin to post festive content. This can include promotions, advertisements, contests, giveaways, and stories. Just remember to keep new content coming so that visitors remain engaged and interested.
5. Offer post-Halloween discounts.
Even after the candy is eaten and the costumes are put away, your store can still enjoy Halloween-related profits. You can make it happen by including coupons and limited-time promotions along with the product receipts you provide along with their Halloween purchases.
Don’t let the fun and potential profits of Halloween slip through your fingers this year. With some preparation and creativity and with a little help from the technology in your point of sale system, you can bring together everything you need to cast a spell for your own sales success.
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