Introduction

Are you ready for the 10 busiest days of holiday? It is important to be strategic and intentional about how you operationalize and plan for these days in order to maximize your results.

Top 10 highest volume days of holiday

1. Black Friday, November 29 (Black Friday)
2. December 21, the last Saturday before Christmas
3. December 26, the day after Christmas
4. December 14, two Saturdays before Christmas
5. November 30, the Saturday after Black Friday
6. December 22, the last Sunday before Christmas
7. December 23, The Monday before Christmas
8. December 28, the Saturday after Christmas
9. December 27, the Friday after Christmas
10. December 7, the first Saturday in December

Throughout the holiday season, I have posted multiple blogs focused on helping retail professionals purposefully prepare for holiday so I won’t regurgitate the content again. Check out www.runninggreatstores.com/blogs for the posts. However, I do want to focus your attention on what winning requires…

3 Imperatives to Win

In order to be ready for the top 10 busiest days of holiday, focus on three imperatives. I have built my retail success on the flawless execution of these three imperatives and they are the cornerstone of my company, Running Great Stores.

1. Create Remarkable Customer Experiences (for customers and associates)
2. Run Operationally Excellent Stores
3. Achieve Superior Sales Results

Action Time – Focus on the Fundamentals

This week’s post is short and sweet…no time to waste, I know just how busy you are. The goal is to provide simple tips that get you ready for the top 10 busiest days of the holiday! Take a few minutes each day and observe what is happening in your store.

• Create Remarkable Experiences
  • What is the customer experience like?
  • Do your associates use your brand’s selling model?
  • Are customers having fun?
  • Can laughter be heard throughout the store?
  • Is the fitting room experience helpful and responsive?
  • Are your associates happy?
  • Are you recognizing their successes – big and small?
• Run Operationally Excellent Stores
  • What does the backroom look like? Is it organized with goods flowing to the floor ensuring color, style and size is available?
  • Are the front windows clean and appealing to passers-by? (You have 5 seconds to draw in the customer).
  • Is the store filled in, sized, well merchandised, clean?
  • Are the fitting rooms clean? Will customers want to get undressed back there? Are associates checking in on them so they don’t have to get redressed to grab more sizes?
  • Is the cashwrap clean and the throughput fast? Are enough cashiers trained?
• Achieve Superior Sales Results
  • Do you have the right people scheduled in the right place at the right time?
  • Are the floor supervisors aware of the sales metrics required by hour? Taking reads and updating the team? Coaching to the behavior that drives the result?
  • Is your team focused on driving Conversion?
  • Are you setting a stretch goal every day?

If you can answer “yes” to these fundamentals, you are ready to rock the highest volume days of the holiday!

I am rooting for you,

Rachel