Summer passed way too quickly and the first stages of Fall are upon us, with Halloween and Thanksgiving just around the corner. After that, it’s the retail “holiday rush”—and there’s no better time than the present to start preparing for it. The following tips will help to start you off on the right track.

1.    Develop employee schedules and marshal adequate resources. Staffing shortages are bad enough during low and moderate “traffic” periods; and during the holiday rush, a lack of sufficient help can force harried, under-served customers to shop somewhere else.
2.    Check inventory levels. Re-order any impulse items and top sellers to maximize exposure. Sell gift cards? Make sure you have plenty of these, as well.
3.    Re-organize and clean the stock receiving and storage areas. Unless
staff can easily find inventory they cannot locate on the store floor, you run the risk of losing customers who have very specific ideas about what they will buy for each person on their list.
4.    Get creative. For example, devote a slow afternoon in October to developing a holiday gift guide to be posted on your store’s Web site or featured in an email campaign. This is part of a comprehensive suggested selling strategy.
5.    Ensure that your point of sale system is up to date and in working order. Don’t neglect peripherals that are connected to the unit—for example, the receipt printer and bar code scanner. Consider adding new system capabilities, such as layaway.

Installing point of sale software like Cash Register Express™ from pcAmerica–whose features facilitate employee scheduling, inventory-monitoring, and store surveillance, to name a few–is another way to survive and thrive in the holiday season. Learn more about the latest version of this software, and more, at www.pcamerica.com.