Most brick-and-mortar retailers are strongly affected by seasonality. During peak times, these businesses enjoy healthy sales and strong revenue. Off-season, they can experience slow periods as foot traffic and sales decline. While this is widely considered to be natural, there are ways to mitigate or even reverse this seasonal trend. Try and see if the strategies below can help your business beat its next forecasted sales dip:
1) Host a Seasonal Event
Embrace the less popular holidays or observances and use them as a reason to hold themed events in your store. Creating a festive atmosphere around these slow times can attract customers and encourage them to make purchases. Also make sure you’re ready to accept any form of payment at your event with a Maya POS terminal such as the Maya Terminal or the Maya Terminal Lite. Check out the Maya Terminal price table to find the merchant discount rates (MDRs) of different digital payments.
2) Offer Discounts
Discounts are a classic but effective way to entice customers during downtimes. To offset the opportunity costs associated with offering discounts, you can introduce tiered discounts based on the total purchase amount, encouraging customers to buy more to maximize their savings. You can also use heavy off-season discounts as a way to free your inventory of items that aren’t selling well.
3) Give Away One-Time Coupons
Encourage repeat business by distributing one-time coupons with each purchase. Coupon giveaways not only create a powerful psychological trigger for your customers but also provide a clear incentive for them to return to your store. Ensure the coupons have clear expiration dates to drive prompt redemption.
4) Write Quick Thank You Notes
Including handwritten thank-you notes with each purchase can add a touch of personalization that kicks off a long and mutually beneficial business relationship. With this simple gesture, you not only show appreciation but also create a positive shopping experience, increasing the likelihood of repeat visits.
5) Do Co-Promotions with a Complementary Brand
Co-promotions with relevant brands can help you tap into a new customer base and create a win-win situation for everyone involved. Consider joint discounts, bundled offerings, or shared marketing efforts to maximize the impact.
6) Offer In-Store Seminars and Classes
If you have room to spare during the off-season, position your store as an industry leader by hosting in-store seminars and classes related to your products or industry. Whether it's a cooking demonstration in a kitchenware store or a fitness class in a sportswear shop, these events provide value to customers while also driving precious foot traffic.
7) Hold a Pop-Up Outside Your Neighborhood
Expand your reach by organizing pop-up shops in high-traffic areas outside your immediate neighborhood. This can introduce your brand to a new audience and generate excitement around your products. Ensure your pop-up is visually appealing and showcases your best-selling items. Bring an ultraportable Maya Terminal Lite POS device with you so that you can easily process any digital payment at your pop-up.
8) Try Experimental Marketing
During slow periods, take advantage of the opportunity to experiment with unconventional marketing campaigns that you might hesitate to implement during peak seasons. The advantage lies in the ability to accurately measure the impact of your strategies without interference from seasonal fluctuations.
Consider testing unique promotions and campaigns that could amplify your conversions during the off season—strategies that may include clearance sales for slow-moving goods, bundle deals and packages, interactive contests and challenges, referral programs, and others. Should the campaign you try slow down or even reverse the expected decline in sales, consider putting more resources into the same strategy during upcoming peak seasons to heavily augment your conversions further.
9) Put Out a Limited-Time Offer
The sense of urgency created by limited-time offers can help drive more customers to convert sooner rather than later. The time constraint introduced by these offers simplifies the decision-making process for some customers, eliminating the need for prolonged consideration.
10) Give Your Storefront a Makeover
A refreshed store layout may create visual appeal that rekindles the interest of people who regularly pass by your shop without a thought. If your display is interesting enough, you may even draw in both new and existing customers into your store. Consider freshening up your main display at least quarterly to maintain interest throughout the year.
Keep Your Off-Season Sales Up with a Maya Business Terminal
The Maya Terminal device and its ultraportable counterpart, the Maya Terminal Lite, are designed to supercharge your business’s sales, even off-season. Seamlessly process credit cards, debit cards, QR Ph codes, as well as e-wallets like Maya, GCash, and GrabPay wherever your customers are. Sign up for Maya Business today to start accepting a full range of digital payments at your physical store.
Signing up for Maya Business instantly lets you in on the exclusive Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle. Maya 1-2-3 Grow gives your business a 1% MDR (merchant discount rate) discount on all QR Ph transactions for 3 months after signing, allowing it to save PHP 14,600 for every PHP 1 million in QR Ph sales.
The special bundle also gives you access to a Maya Business Deposit account for your settlements. Your account comes with an industry-leading 2.5% per annum interest rate, which is 20-25x faster than other competing business savings products. At 2.5% per annum, your fund will earn PHP 25,000 each year for every PHP 1 million deposit. You’ll also get additional savings from your everyday business banking activities, thanks to Maya Business Deposit’s zero maintaining balance and free fund transfers via InstaPay and PESONet.
The Maya 1-2-3 Grow bundle also qualifies you for a Maya Flexi Loan offer as big as PHP 2 million in just 3 months—just what you need for testing out different strategies for your off-season operations. To receive a larger subsequent loan offer, just use Maya as your primary processor for all wallet and card payments.
Sign up for Maya Business today to enjoy Maya 1-2-3 Grow and experience the convenience of the Maya Terminal and Terminal Lite.
