I have seen salons for years; make the same mistakes when it comes to purchasing for upcoming retail and holiday season.
It is not how much you purchase! It is what you purchase and when you purchase!
Timing is key and the months of September and October salons should have large offerings for people who are prepared holiday buyers. These are the types of shoppers that complete their shopping for the holiday season by the time the rest of us are just starting to contemplate it.
Your offerings should be things that speak to the majority of people on their lists. Here in Canada and at the time the holiday gift is given – moisturizing products are ideal, perhaps even hot tools, that allow you to create your own bundles by putting added incentives in to purchase more. However, do not stop there, the other half of us that don’t even think about shopping for others until November or worse, December are still in shopping mode for themselves. September and October welcome the seasonal shift and weather starts to change. We shop for clothes, we want hair color changes and we start spending money on larger items for ourselves. Having items that accommodate for these shoppers are a wise choice.
October is one of the best months to have a salon retail event. You will find shoppers will buy for themselves and for others during this time.
Then you have to have all those last minute shoppers or having the items that help for the shopper that do not know what to get someone. Some ideas may include the following;
-Mix and match your promos with open stock
-Small add ons for gifts for small amounts of money.
-Offering an incentive of a gift card with a higher retail purchase to tie in service with retail.
-Providing a gift card incentive for service, e.g. buy $100 get $120 worth of service
-Travel size minis!
You must always sit with your distributor partner, and make sure you pre book the sets you really want. Distributors are usually only allotted a certain amount of holiday packs- avoid disappointment and make sure you plan and book your holiday months accordingly.
Finally yet importantly, attempt to cross promote with other local businesses to drive each other businesses at Christmas. Coordinate a partnership with other owners of local retailers or service providers to have them advertise for your business and your retail promotions.
After all if we support local a little bit more – we can all flourish.
Written by: Annette Quinlan
Aquinlan@saloncentre.ca
IG @saloncentrecanada @annette.quinlan
