Retailers - plan ahead for the next Bank Holiday weekend

Retailers large and small do well over the bank holiday weekend. This weekend in my part of the world, the weather wasn't typical of a bank holiday and the crowds flocked to the shops for beer, barbecue items and all the other reasons people like to spend! Town and city centres were very busy with people spending their wages on the three-day weekend. It only happened a few times a year and any retailer that was caught on the hop this weekend needs to think about getting ready for the next one at the end of May. To add to this, it will be payday weekend where people will have just been paid. It is the ideal time to boost your sales early in the financial year.

Retailers need to look at these mini-events through fresh eyes because it really makes a difference to their trade. Nor being prepared means losing out on potential sales. Many of the small retailers that read my blog will benefit from a few extra thousand pounds in sales. So you need to think about what the next bank holiday weekend will mean to you.

Opening hours

If you are a small retailer then it can be difficult to alter the opening hours of your business. Your team deserve the bank holiday weekend to relax but you want to make the most of that extra passing trade. Opening on the Bank Holiday Monday can feel like a pain but if the other stores around you are doing it too then you can get a big uplift in sales.

Think about when you are open over the weekend and plan ahead, which leads to...

Staffing

You and your team need to be ready for the trade on that weekend whether you are opening longer hours or not. If you have access to extra staff then it may help to get them involved that weekend. People like to shop somewhere that ha staff on hand to help and can control their queues even in the busy times. So look at your staffing schedule now to see if you can draft in extras. It will be important at the busier times of the day.

Stock

A quick visit to my local Tesco this weekend showed that even the biggest companies can get it wrong with stock. A rush on certain items meant that they lost out on sales. the bigger stores can more easily divert customer to alterative items, but smaller stores don't always have this luxury. Think about what you will need, keep a close eye on the weather and decide where you need to keep extra stocks.

Promotions

If you are going to the extra trouble of staging an event or opening on the Monday, then you need to let as many people as possible know. With social media and websites, we can more easily let customers know that we are ready and available for trade on those days. Get your team to speak to your customers in the weeks before so they know you are open for them at that busy weekend.

As a retailer you need to remember the little details that make a difference. The big events such as Christmas are always planned in advance, but it is easy to overlook the smaller events that can add up to more sales. Get ready for the next one!