For many sellers, the holiday season brings in lots of business - which is mostly a good thing (hello, bank account!đ° ), but also comes with some challenges like long lines, tired employees, inventory management...just to name a few.
If youâre in the midst of preparing for a busy Black Friday, weâd like to help. Zoey Gold, Square Account Specialist, has advised hundreds of Square sellers and helped prepare them for the busy holiday season. She shared some of her tips with us - check it out!
Line Busting
Long lines - nobody likes them, and theyâre not good for business. đ So what can you do about it? A few of Zoeyâs tips:
- Use Employee Management so your staff can go out on the floor and take payments on either side of the counter. If you havenât tried it yet, thereâs a 30-day free trial to get you started - and get you through Black Friday!
- Order extra readers ahead of time. Itâs always good to have a backup reader or two, and if you have employees take payments, youâll need readers for them too.
- Make sure you have enough customer-facing signage and/or menus available so that while customers wait in line they can decide on their order. This helps cut down on time spent at the register.
- Order a Square sticker sheet to show your customers that you accept all types of credit cards.
- Create an Apple Pay only line to get things moving faster.
Customer Communication
If you have any deals or coupons available, make sure your customers know what to expect from your business.
- Reach out to your customers before Black Friday. Let your customers know about any deals or promotions you have, changes to your business hours, and special holiday items for sale. If you donât already use an email marketing tool, take advantage of the free 30-day trial of Square Marketing, including a special template specifically for Black Friday.
- If youâre concerned about getting an influx of customers all at once, consider extending your promotions through the weekend or until Thanksgiving to space out traffic. Use email and in-store marketing to make sure customers know youâll honor promotional pricing even after Black Friday. đ
Tis the Season for Customer Retention
If you do most of your business around the holidays, think ahead about ways to get your customers coming back even after the holidays.
- Likely to have winter weather? Offer free coffee and hot chocolate for your shoppers to create an inviting and memorable environment. âïž
- Use Square Loyalty to reward repeat customers and motivate them to come back. You can offer loyalty stars per visit or amount spent and customize the type of reward you offer. Thereâs a 30-day free trial for Loyalty too, so you can see if you like it!
- Incentivize customer-friendly behavior from your employees. Offer a prize for your employees who go above and beyond. Something as simple as a gift card or free lunch could do the trick, or maybe the ability to make their schedule for a month. There are lots of creative ways to recognize employees that wonât break the bank.
- Thank your employees for their hard work, especially during the long days of busy season. Make sure youâre listening to them and helping create a great working environment. Happy employees = happy customers! đ
Square Basics
Online Dashboard
After Black Friday check your dashboard to see how many sales completed, and to check on your deposits. Keep in mind some banks are closed around the holidays, so your deposits may be delayed a day or two.
Support Hours
The Seller Community is always open - weâll post if anything big comes up, and you can always search for answers or start a thread of your own. The Support Team will be available on Thanksgiving via email, and on Black Friday weâll have both phone and email support available.
What else do you do to prepare for Black Friday? Reply to this post - weâd love to hear your ideas! đ
