Editor’s note: This article was first published in November 2010, for Christmas 2010, during Spain’s economic crisis; the spending forecast for the season and the prediction of very weak sales in January and February 2011 refer to that period.
Christmas is approaching, and with it the chance to save your business’s sales, since, for one reason or another, this hasn’t been the best year for most businesses. It has always been said that the Christmas season invites consumerism, and that’s true, but we have to bear in mind that with the current crisis, customers will spend, but they won’t throw their money away.
An increase in spending is expected compared with the rest of the year, but it will be lower than in previous Christmas seasons, so the average customer will be looking for deals of every kind. One way to attract them psychologically is with 2-for-1 offers and discounts of 20% or more on any product. Make the most of promotions on social media and invest a little capital in direct advertising in your area.
Another thing we need to bear in mind and analyse carefully in our business is this: if every year people talk about the January hill (cuesta de enero, the post-holiday squeeze on budgets), this year it won’t be a hill so much as a very long staircase.
2011 will get off to a very weak start in sales, since the market doesn’t expect an improvement at the beginning of the year, nor will there be any good news on jobs and business growth. That’s why it’s extremely important to make the most of these 20 or 25 days of Christmas to capture consumers’ attention and get ahead of the competition.
Have a financial plan so you can put the extra earnings typical of this time of year to good use, and get ready for new ideas from January onwards, as this will probably be the lowest January and February in sales your business has ever known.
See also: Take steps to keep your business from closing: some ideas
Further reading
- Business ideas for Christmas
- How to run a small business in times of crisis
- 5 ways to increase your business’s sales
- Improve your business’s sales in 3 simple steps
Featured image: A Christmas shop window by Neil Owen, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
