How To Do Seasonal Salon Retailing
Retailing is about more than just offering a bit of merchandise and expecting the consumer to jump at the chance to buy your product. No matter how much information you throw at them, the fact remains that most of the time they will take their time choosing which products are right for them – not just what’s cheapest. That said, when a special retailing season approaches like Christmas, all rules are off and your merchandise needs to reflect the best of the appropriate themes in order to sell, sell, sell.
Believe it or not, the most profitable salons make the majority of their retailing and gift voucher profit in the one to two months before Christmas. To get a massive influx of income during the holiday season, my suggestion would be to watch the big salons and learn! See what they do, how they do it and copy. Note - Obviously don’t copy their promotions and adverts word-for-word…! What I mean is copy the techniques you see them using then customize them to work in your business.
For example, one of the strategies you’ll see them using that you can copy is selling gift items or impulse buys. If your salon is currently only selling traditional beauty treatment products like facial creams or cleansers or shampoos & conditioners, why not move a little outside of that comfort zone and package some of those products with aromatherapy candles or relaxation CDs. Christmas shoppers love the thought of being relaxed and beautiful at the same time. BUT that does not mean you can smash together two products without rhyme or reason. The products need to match in some way, complement each other, if you will.
On the flip side of that coin is if your business ONLY sells non-traditional beauty products, you could add in something more traditional to grab their attention that they’re not expecting. Yes, holistic therapy products, organic facial exfoliators and chakra recordings might be what your consumer has grown to expect if this is you, but what happens when you offer them MORE than they expect? A hike in how much you sell could be what happens because consumers love to be surprised and offered more than they bargained for especially during the Holiday season. Maybe your customers would be interesting in home spa kits or luxury soaps? Take a peak in the window of the big salons and see how they bundle things together and what’s in their gift baskets.
And on that note about gift baskets, it is important to visit the presentation of the products you choose during ANY holiday season. While the other 10 months of the year you can use the manufacturers bottle as your sole means of presentation, during the two months before Christmas that just doesn’t cut the mustard. Consumers want more, more, more AND they want you to show them which products are the best buy for their money. You see, items packaged for Christmas in a nice basket with a beautiful bow and a Christmas tag must be worth the money, right?
Convenience is what a salon is selling when they package products for a quick sale. If you know your facial cream works best with your facial cleanser, package the two together with a “complimentary” relaxation CD and voila, sales will skyrocket.
Now that doesn’t mean you have to discount the items to create something worth the value… How about buying in a few body sponges or fluffy towels and including them in the basket for free then selling the rest at full price? Your client still gets great value for money, as the basket is a ready-made gift, packaged beautifully with a few freebies. And you get full profit to maximize your Christmas income.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Kepple specializes in helping business owners massively increase their client base and profits. To get instant access to her free insider secrets report ‘The Top 7 Secrets for Massively Increasing Your Client Base’ visit: http://www.wellbeingbusinesssecrets.com/freebiebook.
© Copyright Rebecca Kepple 2009
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