Winter is hard on local independent retail. The footpath empties, people rug up at home, and the daily count drops. Many retailers wait it out. You don’t have to.
A small shop can try things a chain would never sign off on. Six weeks of paperwork for them, a Tuesday afternoon decision for you. Winter is when that’s worth using.
From us this Sunday, here are six ideas to get you thinking about the season differently.
- Make your shop warm and welcoming. Put the kettle on. Hot coffee, tea, hot chocolate. Run a slow cooker with a good vegetable soup going all day. Warm cookies or muffins. Comforting music. You could project a film onto a back wall, just for something different. Give people somewhere to stand a wet umbrella and dry off. Be the shop locals talk about loving in winter.
- Host a winter event. Pick an evening, lock the door to the public, put on something just for your regulars. After hours, relaxed, a bit of fun. Warm cider or mulled wine does the job.
- Take the shop to people who can’t get out. Ring the local retirement villages and nursing homes. Pack up a selection of stock and take it on the road. The cold keeps plenty of good customers at home, so go to them.
- Offer free delivery. If the road trip isn’t for you, run a delivery service instead. Someone stuck inside still wants their fix. Be the retailer who bothers.
- Run a summer sale in the dead of winter. Pick the coldest week and throw a blow-out. Call it a Sizzling Sale. Warm people up with the prices.
- Put on an art show. Display art, photos and things your own shoppers have made. It brightens the place, and people come back to see their work on the wall.
A couple more worth a thought. If you’re somewhere genuinely cold, an extra outer door keeps the warmth in. They do it all over Europe and the US. And the July school holidays land right in the middle of all this, so a small winter activity for kids can pull a whole family in.
None of this is about discounting your way through a quiet season. It’s about making the place somewhere people want to be when it’s grey outside. That’s the kind of thing a big business won’t get around to. You can.
These are tips from our crew of retail experienced professionals.
Here at Tower Systems we’re not your average software company.
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