Four ways to increase sales on special occasions

How Special Occasions like Valentines Day Can Boost Your Business

In January every year most business owners are still getting over the long trading days and last minute panic orders of the Chistmas period.

Believe it or not, the next occasion is just around the corner - yes, the all-important Valentine's Day.

Research has suggested that £1.6 billion will be spent on gifts and services related to the special occasion, with over £40 million spent on cards alone.

This love-struck day is a great opportunity to increase sales and with Easter and Mother's Day fast-approaching too, it's time to get prepared and make the most of these lucrative days for your business.

1. Create an offer

Regardless of the type of business, launching an offer and tying it into a special occasion can help drive people to your business.

Whether you're a restaurant and you throw in a half price bottle of Champagne or a hairdressers offering a discounted treat, you can make the most of this brief surge in consumer spending by enticing people to your business with a great value offer.

2. Host a competition

If you're looking to engage with consumers online as well as in store, why not launch a competition on social media?

There are lots of ways you can do this, from asking your followers to post pictures of goodwill gestures on Valentine's Day to sharing their proposal pictures!

Encourage people to like and share your page to increase brand awareness and website hits by offering a prize.

This is a great way to increase the number of entries and by using a hashtag you can easily follow and monitor the competition activity.

3. Partner up with a local business

Consumers are always looking for something special, and a little different, so add value to your product by partnering up with another business.

If you're a florist, you could partner with a local chocolatier to create the perfect gift and offer the combined products at a competitive price.

This is a great way to boost your sales and can help build those important business relationships.

4. Create a themed product

Why not consider creating a unique gift of your own by combining a range of your products into a Valentine's Gift Box?

This will help to increase the average spend of your customers and boost your accounts! Show consumers that you can offer them something for Valentine's Day by theming your product.

If you're a chocolatier, why not seduce customers with heart-shaped chocolates or simply offer a free gift wrapping service for all those last-minute purchases.

Annual occasions are a great opportunity to make your business stand out from the crowd, but get organised as there's not long to go until the next one!