It may seem like the summer sun is still sky-high but with December only a stone’s throw away it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to prep your shop for holiday buyers! On average, about 19% of annual revenue comes from holiday shoppers (though this is much higher for many Printer Minters we speak with!) so it’s time to whip-out your notebooks, grab your favorite coffee mug and get to planning.

Need some ideas? Here are three tips we’ve seen + loved:

1. Create Collections

We love seeing shops create collections for their products. This works beautifully for ecommerce shops because it makes it so much easier for shoppers to sort through products online for the people on their wishlists and add-to-cart easily, but we’ve seen it done in brick and mortars as well! Dedicate a table or two (or shelves if your retail space doesn’t have the floor room) and go to town. Our tip? Don’t forget Fido!

2. Get an Email Marketing Gameplan

On average, for every $1 you spend on email marketing the return on investment is $42! This alone makes it a worthwhile marketing endeavor for most small businesses. Around the holidays many folks are checking their emails looking for deals, gift ideas and stores they may have forgotten about on their unique present idea hunt — make sure to stay top-of-mind and on the top of their inbox! Need email marketing ideas? We have an article on ways to garner more opens, here.

3. Start Early

These days, it seems true that the early bird really does get the worm! Or in our case, the sale. 56% of people plan to start their holiday shopping before December and we’re sure they’ll be grateful if you make it easy on them by implementing your email marketing campaigns and social media flash sales a little earlier than you might usually! 

Tell us: Have you been prepping for the holiday season?