How to Prepare Your Store for Black Friday

Thanksgiving is right around the corner. If you own a store though, you’re probably looking at

the day immediately following Thanksgiving; the holy grail of shopping days - Black Friday. With

Black Friday just a few short weeks away, it’s time to step it into gear and really start prepping.

You’ve likely ordered all of your extra merchandise and decided on a majority of the deals you

will be offering, but there is still a lot left to do. Here are some tips to help you be prepared for

that Friday rush when it comes.

Look at your totals, sales, staff schedule, organization and stock from last year’s Black

Friday. This is one of the best things you can do to get a game plan for this year since

you can set yourself up to repeat your successes and correct your mistakes. If you found

last year that things moved slowly because you didn’t have enough workers present,

schedule more people to keep the flow moving this year, or if you found that displays got

knocked over because they were in a bad spot, move them this year. History doesn’t

have to repeat itself if you look back and learn from your mistakes.

Research items and styles that are trending this season. For instance, every retailer

stocked Tickle Me Elmo when it was popular, and last year there were Keurig coffee

machines on every shelf. Make sure you have a good stock of those popular items, as

they will most likely be your best sellers.

Placement is key. Make sure you sketch out a plan before you begin laying out your

wholesale tops, dresses and other Black Holiday merchandise. We recommend you

rearrange your store so that the hotter items are further back in your store and there are

impulse buy items in front of them. Drawing from our earlier example, put the Keurig

machines a few rows behind the soft blankets, pillows, and DVD’s. You also want to

make sure you have indicated a very long, easy-to-follow line path for customers to fill

when they are checking out.

Get an app for your store and update your website. Many customers are using their

smart phones or laptops to conduct pre shopping. They now want to know what your

sales are and what your stock looks like before devoting hours of their time to browsing

and waiting in line.

Train your employees so that they can efficiently keep your shelves stocked on Friday.

Your supply line needs to be clear and easy to maintain, or you will fall severely behind

on the profit you plan to make. Make sure you also contact your wholesaler to ensure

you have enough wholesale women’s clothing, cheap clothes for men, and other apparel

items to put on the shelves. Your employees can’t stock the shelves if they have nothing

to display.

You may want to consider hiring part time workers to help out on that day. If you do, you will

need to hire them now so that you have time to take them through orientation, training and such.

Temporary help can be huge on Black Friday, since often a lot of the work lies in picking items

up off the floor once they’ve fallen, directing customers and other menial tasks.

For more information visit http://www.primetimeclothing.com