Christmas is one of the busiest times of year for many businesses, with major retailors pulling out all the stops to increase their sales. Not only is this a very clever tactic, it is proven to work; Coca-Cola and John Lewis historically see a dramatic hike in sales at this time of year thanks to their marketing efforts.

So this begs the question, what can your business do in order to boost its festive sales?

Provide gift wrapping

This is a spectacularly easy way to get people to buy gifts for friends and family. If you offer a free wrapping option then you can encourage more, spontaneous sales from people who like the luxury of having their presents wrapped for them – saving them a little bit of time and hassle.

Additionally, this provides you with a very handy way to get across some free branding. Using branded wrapping paper will show the gifted where their present was from, so if they like it chances are they’ll be coming back for more.

Update your packaging

You’ll probably be surprised by how much people will buy during the Christmas period just because the product looks festive. Repackage your items with a creative, bespoke festive feeling and you may well see a lot of impulse purchases. Whether its sandwiches wrapped in greaseproof paper with snowflakes or coffee in bags with the reindeers’ names on them, this simple little touch could have a huge impact on your sales.

Cross-sell your products

There really is no better time of the year to try and cross sell your products! Make sure that you put your most popular items near the door or till so that they are picked up when people walk in or are paying – this works particularly brilliantly with products that have been festively packaged. If you have offers on then make sure you make the customers aware of this at the checkout.

Christmas Sales

Make money by saving your customers money! Sales at this time of year can be an extremely useful way to increase your profits. Customers see it as a way of saving money and therefore they tend to spend more than they would otherwise. Don’t be afraid to be creative with your sale, use a 12 days of Christmas theme, or put specific items on sale as they are the reindeer’s favourites the possibilities are endless!

Christmassy Carrier Bags

Get more foot traffic into your shop through the use of festive carrier bags. These can act as literally walking advertisements for your store and if they are bright and Christmassy then more people will be likely to visit your store on a whim. Don’t underestimate the power of Christmas, people are much more likely to buy items that are festive and so if you combine festive packaging with Christmassy carrier bags then you should be onto a real winner!

Window Display

It goes without saying, your shop front is what will bring the most people through your front door. Get with the Christmas spirit and decorate this as well as you can and you’ll find a lot more people entering your establishment. Throw up a Christmas tree, some lights and a few decoration and within no time you’ll find that your business is booming.

About the Author – Joe Hickman works for Charlotte Packaging, a family run business who have over 40 years of experience within the packaging industry. If you are looking for a way to reduce your packaging waste then talk to Charlotte Packaging today.