How to: Beat the slower months sales slump

The coldest months tend to be the slowest months in terms of sales, as shoppers tighten their purse strings. Retailers have a range of tips, tricks and strategies to help mitigate a sales slump, and keep footfall and spend high. From delivery services to other apps and targeted offers and deals.

Reuben Singh Mander, The Three Singh’s, Selby, North Yorkshire

“We see a drop in footfall during winter because you’re not getting dog walkers coming in as often. In addition, people who would normally walk into town might instead get the bus because of bad weather. This year, we’ve started targeting the weekend. During the week, people are working during the day and they’re not likely to make time to come out to our shop. They’ll just want to get home after work and be warm.

At the weekend, we’ll highlight a new product or a certain deal that’s only available for that weekend to drag people into the shop. We’ve done two so far this year. Last weekend, we had an offer that was Foster’s 10-packs for £8.99, which ran from Friday to Sunday. People came in to get it, and then picked up milk and bread, crisps and vapes while they were in the shop. Those £8.99 baskets very quickly turned into baskets of £25 or more.”

Alex Kapadia, Bargain Booze Dunstable, Bedfordshire

“We’ve been using the Gander app, which enables people to pick up products we’ve reduced on our shelves at any time. It’s connected to our EPoS, so our customers get live data on what’s reduced. It’s great in winter. People are short on money after Christmas, and we’ve seen use of the Gander app go up at this time as they try to save some money.

“Every time we reduce something or sell something, shoppers will get an update. Because people have to come into the shop to collect and pay for whatever they want from Gander, there’s an opportunity to sell other things to them. We also use Too Good To Go, another app for reducing wastage by selling stock at reduced prices. We package whatever we like up to a value of £10 and sell it for £3.90. With Gander, customers can choose what they want.”

Chloe Taylor-Green, Spar Western Downs, Staffordshire

“You have to establish a few things in your store to make it somewhere people will come to out of choice, not just because it’s the closest store to them. We don’t have much passing trade, so we’re trying to make sure we’re known for something and can become something of a destination for customers.

“We’ve introduced self-checkout in the store and with the extra space that comes from the self-checkout, and with HFSS meaning we’ve not got chocolate in the doorway, we can look outside the norm and try to ????ind interesting things that might encourage people to come into the shop. We did Christmas crackers and hampers in December, for example.

“We also have a delivery platform with Snappy Shopper and Deliveroo, and that helps with awareness and, even though they’re not coming into the store, those people are still shopping with us.”