As we all know, not all businesses are made equal. For the purposes of this topic, some operate at a fairly consistent level through the year – while others have immense highs and rely heavily on seasonality.
Unsurprisingly, these peaks of seasonality can make or break some companies. Get it right, and you can be well on your way to profit records. Get it wrong, and your year can look very different.
This article will now take a look at some of the best ways to cope with such seasonality, to ensure you fall into the former group.
It starts with the storage
We’ve all heard about the sheer number of goods that Amazon manage to sell during the Christmas period – and this should be enough evidence that you need to make the appropriate arrangements long before November starts.
When we talk about these arrangements, storage space is one of them.
Sure, in the case of Amazon, they have vast warehouses that can probably cope with every demand going. We’re by no means saying that you are going to touch anywhere near the volume that Amazon is doing, but just make sure that your storage facilities can hold enough stock. The last thing you want is to run dry by the end of November, and miss out on potential profit.
You don’t have to turn to any permanent solution either as Safestore have a range of storage options for business’ who need that extra space during this period.
Make sure you have enough manpower
As well as the storage-factor, make sure that you have enough people to look after such items (and the customers that are buying them).
As we have probably all experienced, you can sometimes walk into some high-street stores over Christmas and be immediately met by a queue. Or, order something from the internet, and be told that it’s going to be delayed due to excessive orders.
Well, the advice is just not to fall into this category. Make sure you recruit sensibly, even if it’s on temporary contracts.
The same rules apply with your tech stack
The basis of today’s story so far has been about increased demand. Nowadays, this clearly doesn’t just affect bricks and mortar stores, but also the internet. Sometimes, rather than just making sure you have enough staff to cope with demand, it’s about making sure you have enough server capacity.
Again, even if your store is “only” down for thirty minutes, this can result in lost revenue which will never be made back up again.
How do your Christmas promotions compare?
We’re just going to end with a small point about Christmas promotions. In most industries, this is the season for sales, and if yours isn’t strong enough you will lose out to the competition.
Sure, you might not be a business who is associated with sales, but this is the period where you may just have to give a little leeway to make sure you are considered by Christmas shoppers.
