This holiday season is going to be unlike any other. As more and more businesses are taking their businesses online, being top of mind for your customers is more challenging than ever.
Check out strategies to survive the Season with Square’s Holiday eCommerce Guide and continue reading for the Seller Community’s Holiday Guide. 👀
In this post, we’re sharing resources to help you promote and manage your business and boost sales this holiday season. Don't hesitate to ask questions or share your top tip to surviving this busy time of year.
Social distancing and contactless sales
There are now a variety of ways to continue serving customers while maintaining safe social distancing practices. Here are just a few:
- Food & Beverage: Create QR codes with Square Online to allow your customers to order online and minimize contact with staff.
- Professional Services: Use Square Appointments' social-distancing tools to allow your clients to book their next appointment with a QR code and set daily reservation limits to set the maximum number of appointments you’d like to accept for a location or for an employee.
- Retail: Review these products to help you take payments at the counter, at a distance and remember to lean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces.
- Teams: Learn 5 important ways to protect your employees working on the frontlines during the pandemic.
Boost sales with Square Gift Cards and eGift Cards
With Square you can sell physical gift cards and eGift Cards. You pay a per transaction processing fee when the gift card is sold but there is no fee when your customer pays with a Gift Card. Square Gift Cards can be redeemed on your Square Online site, for in-person payments, and to pay Square Invoices.
Plastic Gift Cards: Keep in mind it can take 1-2 weeks to receive plastic gift cards so consider when your customers will need to purchase them from you and work back from there.
eGift Cards: You can configure and sell eGift Cards in seconds. It’s free to set up eGift Cards and with a free eGift Card website you can promote that you sell digital gift cards on social media too. Check out these threads to learn more about using Square Gift Cards:
- Getting Started with Square eGift Cards: FAQs
- Live Q&A: Ask us Anything about Square Gift Cards
- Order Your Square Gift Cards
Promote your holiday offers on social media and with Square Marketing
If you haven’t already, consider creating holiday promotions. You can offer discounts for items on your Square Online site by creating coupon codes. Or you can create discounts that can be applied from your Point of Sale.
You’ve put a lot of effort into creating the perfect holiday offers and sales — now it’s time to tell your customers about it. You can use Square Marketing to send pre-designed or custom email campaigns, or use Square Marketing to promote your offers on Facebook. Check out the Square Marketing Assistant to receive personalized suggestions and reports directly to your phone.
- Get Started with Square Marketing
- Is Square Marketing worth it? YES!
- How-To Guide: Drive Sales on Social Media with Live Sales
- Introducing Item-based Filtering - and a better way to way to build customer lists in Directory
- Learn how to collect more customer emails
Hiring for the holidays
Perhaps you’re in a position to hire some help. For example, you may need someone to help manage your website, to help manage your inventory, or maybe you need an extra pair of hands at a business location.
With Team Management you can allow team members to clock in and out of the point of sale. You also can track team member's time with timecards, restrict access to certain areas of your point of sale, or you can track activity by team members. Free and paid plans for Team Management are available as well as a 30-day free trial.
These resources will help you find, hire, and pay the right person for the job:
- A Guide to Holiday Hiring
- How to Write a Job Description
- How to Advertise Your Job
- Get Started with Team Management
- Square Payroll: Get Started With New Employers
Managing your business with Square
Last but not least, keep in mind that your sales data is always available at your fingertips. Sign in to your online Square Dashboard to track sales, inventory from anywhere. You can also update your business and your receipt information from your Square Dashboard to prevent disputes. Check out these threads to learn more:
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Share your tips to survive the holiday season or ask questions below. Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season. Stay safe.
