Preparing for peak season: Five key ways that retailers can invest in success

In the retail world, peak season is the time of the year when consumer spending skyrockets-and, as such, it represents a golden opportunity for stores to boost sales and win market share. During times of increased demand, making sure that store operations run smoothly is essential, but the real magic of ensuring a store's success starts months earlier. From hiring staff to ensuring adequate inventory, the choices that a retailer makes in the months leading up to peak season can pave the way to a smooth and profitable experience.

Anticipating demand

Inventory management is a key aspect of preparing for increased customer demand. Retailers must order stock months in advance, but they don't have to make decisions in the dark; there are several ways to anticipate customer demand. Sales data from previous years can be a good indicator of customer buying behavior-highlighting busier days, popular items and other trends. However, since conditions change from year to year, it's essential to balance historical data with other trend predictors, such macroeconomic metrics, the consumer price index, consumer borrowing and wage growth. For example, in the current market, inflation is a key consideration when it comes to demand; 34% of shoppers in the United States say that inflation will change how they shop during the 2024 holiday season. Even so, the majority of retailers foresee an increase of revenue by as much as 9% over the previous year.

Once retailers have chosen and ordered inventory, tracking it is also essential. If a key item is in demand but hasn't been delivered in time for peak shopping days, customers may choose to purchase it elsewhere.

Scheduling staff

An uptick in shopper traffic demands an increased staffing presence. From warehouse workers to custodians to checkout associates, having more staff in-store can minimize wait times and make the overall shopping experience more pleasant. Many retailers choose to hire seasonal employees to lighten the load on existing workers and bolster their staff; this requires advance planning for interviewing, hiring and training, as well as determining the number of seasonal workers needed. According to the 2024 Deloitte Global Retail Outlook, 71% of European retailers, 62% of American retailers, and 66% of retailers in the Middle East, Asia and Australia plan to invest in hiring as well as employee retention and workforce sustainability. The large percentage of retailers worldwide demonstrates how important staffing needs are this year and will continue to be in years to come.

However, hiring more staff isn't the only way to handle increased customer traffic. Automating parts of the shopping process, such as introducing self-checkout or drop-off returns can help stores to operate efficiently, even in times of labor shortages.

Managing shift scheduling is also critical to effective retail operations, during peak season and beyond. Using past shopper data can help managers determine which shifts require more staffing support.

Planning for promotions

During peak shopping seasons, when shoppers are already planning to make purchases, promotions can influence where they choose to shop and increase their spending at individual stores. Planning marketing and promotional activities in advance, especially around major holidays, is a powerful strategy for attracting customers.

In the current market, where shopper behavior has been shaped by several years of uncertainty, inflation and economic concerns, insights show that discounts and promotions have become even more of a motivating factor for shoppers. For example, when it comes to grocery shopping, 83% of American consumers cite price as the most important consideration when picking a grocery store. When it comes to holiday shopping, almost half of consumers say they begin shopping as early as September to look for discounts and avoid times of peak demand, and per a survey by Celigo, 77% of consumers place finding the best value at the top of their holiday spending priorities. As a result, the holiday season is getting longer than ever, incentivizing retailers to offer promotions, such as Amazon's fall Prime Big Deal Days, well in advance of the holiday season in an attempt to attract shoppers and win market share. Research also shows that leveraging personalization to send buyers special offers based off their historical buying data can significantly boost shopper engagement.

Upgrading systems

While the benefits of new technology and upgraded systems are most apparent during peak seasons, it's important to implement these changes during off-peak times to ensure everything is up and running smoothly well before heavy traffic days, when outages can be detrimental.

In today's fast paced retail environments, upgraded point of sale systems are game changers for managing customer traffic. Alternatives to traditional check-out lanes, such as self-checkout, can help alleviate wait times and improve customer experience.

For retailers who offer online purchases, a robust point-of-sale platform can ensure website readiness for high-traffic days. When large numbers of customers attempt to make online purchases simultaneously, older systems may experience difficulties with checkout, inventory management and site speed, causing frustration. Customers who are not able to make a successful online purchase may choose to purchase goods elsewhere or have a negative opinion of the retailer that will impact future purchasing.

Elevating the experience

All these considerations boil down to one critical factor: customer experience. Even the lowest prices or the best hiring practices may not be enough to retain a customer after a negative experience; conversely, pleasant experiences build customer loyalty which translate not only into future sales, but also referrals and word-of-mouth. During less busy times, it's essential to anticipate what customers will need, want and value. By intentionally shaping an experience around these insights, retailers can lay a solid foundation for peak season operations.

One of the most consistent ways to ensure customer satisfaction is to minimize wait times. Streamlining checkout allows customers to complete their shopping quickly, but this requires stores to be flexible and responsive to traffic, even among staffing limitations. For example, next-generation POS systems can shift an assisted checkout lane into an additional unstaffed self-checkout lane in minutes.

Another sure-fire way to delight customers is to provide excellent service. Along with hiring sufficient staff, ensuring customer-facing employees are prepared to make every customer interaction memorable and empowered to solve problems is key. Strong training and hiring practices leading up to peak season ensure that staff are ready and willing to contribute to the customer experience when it matters most. Kindness goes a long way in creating an elevated customer experience, which in turn fosters loyalty and boosts a store's bottom line.

Investing in success

The key to succeeding during peak seasons lies in making the right investments in the months leading up. Leveraging data to plan for inventory management, anticipating staffing needs, personalizing promotions and being proactive on technology upgrades are all important steps. Together with these actions, retailers can build an excellent customer experience that will delight customers and create long-term loyalty.

To learn more about how our next-gen POS solution can help your store prepare for peak season and beyond, schedule a demo with NCR Voyix today.

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