by Stephen H

Created on: December 24, 2008   Last Updated: April 28, 2011

The holiday season is great. You get to go shopping and buy presents for all your loved ones. I really enjoy choosing the presents that I know will make my friends and family happy. The only downside is that it's a bit of a hit on the wallet. I always spend more than I budget for and the credit card takes a beating too. It means going into the new year broke and waiting for that first pay day. It would take a lot to get me shopping in those few days after the holiday is over. I'm pretty much shopped out after that frenzy of activity and conserving what little cash I have left. The more successful shops manage to draw the customers back pretty quickly though. They do this by creating an atmosphere where people want to be and by offering deals that their customers want.

If you are going to draw me back into the shops straight after the holiday season you are going to need to make the shop somewhere that I want to be. Different target customers will want different environments. The young fashion stores will be blasting out energetic music to entice in their customers, who will avoid the sedate like the plague. It would make me cross the street and want to run in the opposite direction. I'll be looking for a relaxing atmosphere where the staff treat me with respect and look after me while I peruse the goods in the store. After the intense crowded activity of the pre-holiday season, I'll be looking to step down a gear and take a much more leisurely approach. Shops that understand their customers and can make a conducive atmosphere will fare better in enticing people back to retail heaven.

One of the reasons that people venture back into the malls, is to return either unwanted gifts or articles that do not fit. If the retailers are to turn this opportunity into potential sales they will need to grab their customers' attention. The one thing that always grabs shoppers' attention is a good deal. Now more than ever, store owners need to present deals that will convince people that it is a good time to spend what little money they have left in their pockets. Good old fashioned discounting is still a good ploy. Make people think that they are getting a bargain and they will buy. The bigger the discount the stronger the pull, so get those 50% discount signs out and up around the store. But please, do not advertise a 50% sale but then have most discounts at a much lower level. This just frustrates the customer, who feels cheated and will often leave the store without buying,

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