Marketing

Positioning your business to win the new year

The holidays are upon us, but the post-holiday season is also rapidly approaching. Here are five strategies to ensure your business is ready for the post-holiday rush and to take advantage of key opportunities at the start of the new year.

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December 16, 2022 | Naomi Wheeless, global head of Customer Success at Square

It might be hard to envision during the height of the busy holiday shopping season, but soon the holidays will be behind us and 2023 will be upon us. At the beginning of the new year, retailers can still expect heightened volume as consumers look to redeem gift cards, take advantage of sales, exchange items for a different size or color or even draw out the festive season by continuing to shop.

Below are five strategies to ensure your business is ready for the post-holiday rush and to take advantage of key opportunities at the start of the new year.

Turn returns and exchanges into sales opportunities

Getting your returns and exchanges right in the months following the holidays presents an opportunity to grow sales. To start, staff can promote clearance items. For example, Square insights revealed that the top selling items in January compared to December are furniture, kitchenware and linens — making those a priority for retailers to promote post-holidays. It's important to also list clearance on your website so customers can browse at home.

During return and exchange transactions, you can also encourage customers to sign up for your loyalty and marketing programs to build repeat customers. You can reward customers when they shop at your store and promote key products through marketing messages, while also keeping your business top of mind.

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Maximize sales from gift cards

Last year, Square found that from Black Friday through Dec. 31, more than 3.4 million gift cards were purchased.

​​Square also found that 23% of transactions where a gift card is used results in overspend, representing a key opportunity to drive incremental revenue. January is the largest month for gift card redemptions so retailers should ensure they're promoting products and discounts to grow the dollar amount of a customer's cart.

Analyze inventory to inform your 2023 strategy

After the holidays is a perfect time to calculate your sales for the year and conduct end-of-year inventory count to ensure your stock matches your books. This will also be essential for the next strategy, a post-holiday clearance plan.

An up-to-date inventory count enables you to analyze yearly financials and determine any shifts to make in 2023. Your business will gain insights into what products you're losing money on, make business decisions based on data, and confirm your pricing strategy was effective and find areas for improvement.

Create a clearance plan for the new year

While holiday sales play an important role in maximizing revenue, retailers should leverage a clearance plan to empty the shelves and get ready for new products. You can put big markdowns on targeted products that aren't selling at the same rates as others, increasing the discount each week.

Clearance plans also drive additional sales. For shoppers that come in after the holidays for returns or exchanges, they can easily shop around and be enticed to purchase if they see big discounts throughout January.

Get started on tax preparation

Tax season is daunting and time consuming, with many businesses putting it off as they focus on closing out and getting started on the year to come. But while you're preparing for all of this, it's also ideal to start a list of all the information and documentation you'll need come April.

With Square, you can view your 1099-K forms in the Tax Forms tab in your Square Dashboard by Jan. 31. You can also export reports and sales information for accountants or tax professionals. Additionally, Square Payroll handles federal and state tax filings and payments on your behalf at no additional charge, which can be downloaded, saved and printed all within Square Dashboard.

For tips on how to better run and grow your business both now and in the future, visit Square's Holiday Resource Hub.