‘Tis definitely the season.
Odds are, if your store sells things, you’ve been battening down the hatches in preparation for the beginning of holiday shopping season for some weeks. So many stores depend on the end-of-year boost that the gift giving season gives. Likewise, each holiday season has the potential to bring bigger growth, if you’re able to capitalize on the opportunity. Which brings us to the point: how can you ensure that you don’t go insane in the time leading up to Christmas, and actually turn the season into a windfall for your company? Accepting credit cards for your small business is just the beginning. Let’s take a look at what matters.
The truth of the matter is, if you’re not conducting some type of promotion for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the Holiday shopping season generally, you may be losing out to your competitors who are. Promotions have become so pervasive and culturally ingrained, your potential customers may be let down if they don’t find it. Doing promotions right takes planning and effort, though. Especially for online shopping, using your social media to get the word out is pretty important to the success of your promotion, as is incorporating promotional codes to streamline things.
You don’t need to be Amazon to benefit from seasonal employees. Small and medium-sized warehouses can easily become overwhelmed by the influx of orders, and during the high points of holiday shopping, the stakes are high for completing your customers’ order in a timely manner. The better prepared you are, and the more hands on deck you have, the easier it will be to avoid those costly negative reviews.
Moolah partners directly with Authorize.Net for payment processing for our merchant accounts. As a result, you’re not just accepting credit cards for your small business, you get to benefit from the security and power of Authorize.Net. On the ground, this means you can accept more payment types. You can even set up Visa Checkout, allowing your customers to pay easily online with a single sign in. With a consumer base increasingly used to options, you don’t want to be the merchant that’s putting up obstacles between your customer and your products.
Possibly the most important piece of advice for staying successful is to never forget what time of year it is. With a little creativity, you can find endless ways to go above and beyond the basics of customer service. Include a personalized note with a candy cane in their shipment. Treat people as humanely as possible when dealing with their complaints. By being there for them, you can win over a long-time customer—and more importantly, make your corner of the world a better place.