How To Prepare Your Retail Business for Autumn
As the halcyon days of the summer begin to wind down and the evenings start to claw back the day, retail businesses need to start adjusting their offerings and their marketing plan. The weather has a measurable impact on consumer behaviour and it’s crucial for business owners to adapt to these changes.
Changing how you run your business based on the seasons can actually improve your customer experience and ensure you have a good sales period in the milder months. In this blog, we’ll examine how consumer behaviour changes as the leaves start falling, how your business can prepare, and share some helpful tips along the way.
How does consumer behaviour change in the autumn?
For many countries around the world, autumn is seen as a chance to reset and start preparing for the winter. This change in attitudes can be attributed to a number of different factors. The weather begins to become milder after the usually hot summer and many return to school and university.
The autumn reset can have an interesting effect on retail business. According to The 7 Stars, consumers generally try to save money during the autumn as they prepare for the big winter spending period. As children have either gone back to school or are about to, children’s clothing and cleaning products also have an upswing in purchases. [1]
This change of behaviours can also be seen in clothing stores. Consumers understandably start stocking on winter clothing as the weather turns. Electronic shops and gift stores may also seem increased sales as customers begin shopping for Christmas.
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How your business can prepare for Autumn
The upcoming season offers the perfect opportunity to re-energise your business. We’ve compiled a few tips below to help make sure your business is in the best position to take full advantage of the autumn months.
Clear your summer stock
With autumn around the corner, you should think about what you want to do with your summer stock. Unless you’ve had an exceptional couple of months, you’ll surely have some summer inventory left over.
There are a few things you can do with your leftover stock. Most businesses, when faced with excess stock, will simply mark down their summer items and offer them to customers for a lower price. Sales are always popular and if advertised correctly, could see a big increase in foot traffic to your store. Ensure you’ve priced the items so you can still make a profit.
Alternatively, if you can absorb the loss, you may want to donate the items to a good local cause. Charities are always looking for donations, whether they can use them themselves or raffle them off for extra funds. If you do go down this route, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to promote the donation on social media for positive coverage.
Inventory management
Now that you’ve dealt with your summer stock, it’s important to get a good grasp on what you have available now. Going through your inventory and making notes on what you have left and what you need to order will leave you better prepared for the new season.
If you’ve been in operation for a while, it’s worth looking at your sales data from past autumns and seeing what your popular items were. This can inform your choices on what you order for the new season. Your Epos Now POS system will have your business reports ready for you.
Change out your display
How many shop windows do you walk past every day? Now, think about how many you actually notice. If you can’t think of any, you’re most likely walking past shop displays that haven’t been changed since they were first set up. Now, consider how long it’s been since you changed your shop front.
Autumn is a time of natural change, so it’s the perfect time to change up your window display and get your new stock in front of consumers. It doesn’t matter what you sell, as long as your products are prominently displayed in an appealing way.
If you’re struggling for ideas, look at autumn-themed window displays online and in your local area. Pick out aspects of them that you like and think you could emulate and build your own display around that.
Start thinking about the holidays
Autumn is the start of the holiday season. Halloween, Christmas, and New Year's are all quite close together during autumn and winter. As part of your autumn refresh, you should start preparing for these holidays.
How you prepare for the holidays will depend on the type of shop you own. While selling holiday-themed items for clothing and gift stores is easy, establishments like electronic stores may be better off investing in some seasonal decorations since their stock doesn't change with the seasons.
Both autumn and winter are big spending periods for consumers. You need to prepare for this by aggressively marketing your store online and in-person to ensure you get the most customers possible.
Be prepared with superior POS
No matter the season, the best way you can be prepared for business is by investing in a powerful electronic point of sales (EPOS or POS) system. The Epos Now Complete Solution represents the pinnacle of POS technology.
If you’d like to hear more about Epos Now, get in touch with our expert team below.
