by Melanie
McIntosh
The sun is out and thoughts of holiday line-ups
are far from our minds. What better time to begin planning
for next holiday season!
By starting your plan now, you will be well prepared
when the year's busiest shopping season begins. What can you do to make
your store stand out this year?
First, evaluate your performance for the last
holiday season. How did your sales this season compare to last
year? How did you compare to other stores in your industry? How about
other retailers in your area? Was your store running at peak performance,
or could you have done just a little bit better?
Involve your entire staff and honestly critique all
aspects of your store. Call a staff meeting or give a checklist to each
staff member to fill out. Give plenty of opportunity for comments and
input. Donít overlook the opinions that differ from the general
consensus - those may be the ideas that you need to help make your store
unique! Remember, the point of this exercise is to find out how you
can improve your store performance next year.
Holiday Evaluation
Here are some ideas to get you started on your evaluation.
Tailor the list to your own business.
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©2001-2008 Inspire Retail Solutions. All Rights Reserved.
Melanie McIntosh is a retail consultant and owner of Inspire
Retail Solutions. She helps independent retailers who are
struggling to get more customers in the door.
Is your store appearance actually turning customers away?
Find out more here: http://www.inspire.bc.ca
Melanie's articles
and interviews have appeared in Retail
BC's Retail Connections magazine, Western
Home Furnishing Association's Western
Retailer, Intimate Apparel Business, Arabian Retailer, Teeze magazine, edplay magazine,
and LA Apartment, among
others.
