It has begun, the holiday shopping season is upon us. Consumers are well aware of that - so are retailers, but there could be some clues for small businesses that could help improve their sales.
Many retailers offer discounts during this holiday season - and it is, after all, the season of giving. While they want to attract new customers, it's always a good idea to retain loyal customers. Think about a gift for those who have sustained your business for a long time.
"And what I mean by that, is that it's always a good idea to give gifts to customers that have been loyal to you, that have been with you for a while. It's always a nice way for saying thank you for all the time that they've given their patronage to the business," said Galileo Tan of Central Pacific Bank.
That could be something as simple as offering free samples. But at this time of year, especially, companies might want to think about their involvement in the community to show their sharing spirit.
"As we know here in Hawaii, is that people tend to have a soft spot in their hearts for businesses that are involved with community matters. So one thing that business owners may want to do is be highly involved in the communities that they do business in," Tan says.
Companies can do that in a number of ways - donating to a worthy local charity, getting employees to help in beautifying a school or park. The other element of our new society that can help businesses - social media.
"Definitely. You know, there's a lot of great social media out there that's actually free and relatively easy to use. We all know about Twitter and Facebook and the good thing about these services as I've just mentioned, first of all it's easy, it doesn't matter how old you are, how technologically savvy or not, it's relatively easy to use - - and it's free well, you can never go wrong with free," Tan says.
Words to remember. If you have questions for our financial experts, please send those to dollarsandsense at khon2.com.
