Retailing software and 5 steps to plan for the holiday season

WORK OUT YOUR PLAN EARLY – it’s never too soon to start planning for the most important window of opportunity of the year. Get the planning calendar out early and remember increased retail activity continues well into January with returns and exchanges.

ANALYZE YOUR DATA - using a retail management system such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Commerce, you can make informed decisions on pricing strategy, and likely sales patterns and trends over the season. A good retail management system provides you with all the relevant data you need to slice and dice to inform your decision making.

FORECAST DEMAND – forecasting demand for items over the holiday season can be tricky. While a retail management system is invaluable to supply accurate historical data, be aware that there may be other factors that affect demand in any particular year. If there’s a new product in the market that’s in heavy demand and likely to be “the” item that everyone wants at Christmas, you’ll need to factor that in.

ENSURE ADEQUATE STAFFING - whether you play in the manufacturing, distribution or retail space, ensuring you have adequate staff in the run up to the holiday season and during the holiday season itself is critical. Don't forget to factor in illness, attrition, or unavailability of staff for any other reason. Always have a backup plan should the worst happen, and you suddenly find yourself understaffed.

PLAN HOLIDAY PROMOTIONS – the holiday season is the busiest time of the year and there’s going to be plenty of competition with everyone vying for the consumer’s attention. People have come to expect substantial savings, particularly if you sell online (consider Black Friday and Cyber Monday). Think about which sales and promotions you’ll want to run and plan advertising and promotion campaigns in good time.