The holidays have come and gone and the calendar has turned to a new year — and with it, the holiday shopping season has dissipated. For many businesses, January is a month of slow sales. Consumers overspent during the holidays and aren’t as actively shopping. But businesses shouldn’t just cross their fingers and ride out the slow season. Here are five ideas to increase post-holiday sales in January.

Encourage gift card spending (and exchanges).

After the holidays, consumers may have several gift cards to spend. Encourage them to spend during the slow season with sales and social media campaigns. Consider post-holiday needs and run a special focused on that. For example, print shops can offer discounted album for customers to print of their images from the Christmas-New Years season.

For retailers, January is often the biggest time for returns and exchanges. Push for the latter with specials, well-placed product displays, and excellent customer service.

Launch a unique marketing campaign.

Combat slow sales with a January marketing campaign. Brainstorm ideas for an unusual sale, new product, or social media campaign. If you’ve always wanted to try a video campaign on social media, for example, now is the time to try.

Businesses can also begin focusing on the next holiday. Photographers, for example, can run specials ahead of Easter or Mother’s Day.

Host an event or contest.

In the slowdown after the holiday, why not create your own reason to get customers in the store? A contest or event is often a great way to boost a business during a slow down. Host an event to battle the winter blues. Run a giveaway on social media. Encourage customers to come into the store with in-person contest entries.

Reach out to holiday shoppers.

If you’ve been collecting emails and information from holiday shoppers, now is a good time to use it. Follow up with holiday shoppers and reach out with an exclusive offer, just for previous customers. Word the email like a friend, not a business — ask about their holidays before launching into any sales materials. Be sure to keep emails short and infrequent — no one likes junk mail.

Focus on ways to improve while shopping is slow.

Sometimes, a slow down is exactly what a business needs. If that’s you, instead of focusing on reversing the slow down, take the time to take a breather, and work on business tasks that can’t be tackled during the busy season. Update your website. Plan social media posts ahead of time.  Improve the appearance of your store. Invest in new tools to help your business run smoothly. Take the time to service equipment, like printers and computers.

The holidays may be over, but the work never stops for small businesses. To fight the slow season, try new ways to bring customers in like encouraging gift card spending, launching a campaign, hosting an event, reaching out to previous shoppers, or simply focusing on improvements that can’t be mastered during the busy season.

Contact the Photo Direct team on (03) 9894 1644 and use our expertise to build your business for 2019 and beyond.