10 Holiday Retail Planning Tips for Small Businesses in Canada

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With an ever-shifting consumer landscape driven by cost-conscious shoppers, here are 10 tips for Canadian retailers, online sellers, and e-commerce businesses to consider going into the holiday season: 

1. Start Planning Now

It’s already October, so if you have yet to start planning your shop’s holiday sales strategy, it’s time to giddy-up!

Consider upcoming major sales opportunities in the last couple of months of the year. For instance, Black Friday in late November, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day in December, with the last possible shipping date for products to be delivered to customers on or before Christmas Day. Also, plan for New Year’s Day sales and post-holiday promotions to keep up the momentum.

Establish an achievable timeline for launching promotional sales campaigns, ordering and receiving the necessary amount of inventory you’ll need to have in stock, decorating your store if you have a brick-and-mortar location, and determining the cost of labour if you hire seasonal or temporary help for the season.

2. Analyze Previous Sales Data

Review your business’s sales data from past holiday seasons to identify trends and products that sold well versus ones that didn’t, the profit margin your store earned, and which days or weekends when sales spiked online and offline.

This data can serve as a guide for your holiday sales targets this year, as well as for promotional campaign decisions, discounts, and managing inventory levels.

3. Forecast and Manage Inventory and Storage

Armed with knowledge from your previous sales data, estimate customer demand for different products and order sufficient quantities of inventory as early as possible.

Consistently tracking inventory levels, ordering, receiving, and storage costs can help prevent supply chain delays, while also providing insight into merchandise that isn’t selling as quickly or as much as expected. This information can then be used to discount or bundle items to avoid excessive inventory expenses.

4. Optimize Your Website

Review and test your online store to ensure it’s optimized for mobile-driven sales – Statista notes that 60% of Canadians use mobile phones, and another 25% use tablets when making online purchases. 

E-commerce websites that are easy to navigate, offer simplified checkout options, and include live chat features, FAQs, and clear and transparent shipping and return policies can encourage consumers to make a purchase.

Also, ensure your store’s or business’s online branding, email newsletters, social media accounts, and advertisements reflect the festive season.

5. Prepare Holiday Promotions and Marketing

Roll out gift guides featuring bundled products or discounts that cater to various customer types or occasions. For example, “gifts under $50” or “stocking stuffer deals”.

Host flash sales, offer limited-time discounts, and provide free giveaways with purchases exceeding a specific dollar amount to create a sense of urgency for consumers.

Offer vouchers or coupons for future purchases to customers to entice them to return to your online or physical store and take advantage of upcoming deals. Get into the spirit of the season with seasonal packaging and gift wrapping options.

6. Ensure Adequate Staffing Levels for Peak Times

For brick-and-mortar stores, having an adequate number of trained customer service employees to assist your customers during peak shopping times is crucial.

Make sure your regular employees are prepared to handle multiple tasks (processing sales, gift wrapping or packaging, answering customer questions), and hire seasonal or temporary employees to keep your teams’ workloads balanced.

Providing excellent customer service is vital all year round, but especially during the holiday season when customers may be stressed or rushed. 

Alleviating their challenges and helping them get what they want underpins positive customer experiences – a report from Salesforce states that 88% of consumers say the experience they have with a retailer or company is as important to them as its products or services.

7. Plan Packaging and Shipping Requirements

Shipping products to customers this holiday season may be more challenging due to ongoing Canada Post disruptions; however, alternative shipping options are available to consider.

Ensuring your business has an adequate supply of packaging supplies and materials and shipping options for your customers to choose from can streamline logistics-related challenges ahead of time. 

8. Have a Product Return Strategy

You should expect that some customers will return the products they purchased from your shop for various reasons.

One of the keys to making a sale in the first place is to have a clear and transparent return and exchange policy. Handle a return or exchange efficiently, and that customer is more likely to buy from you again.

One way to avoid providing refunds is to entice customers who wish to return an item with an incentive for a store credit or exchange discount.

9. Track KPIs (Key Performance Indicators)

Monitor, track, and measure sales using KPIs like average order value and size, sales by product or product segment, inventory turnover, conversion rates and product returns.

Use this data post-holidays to do a deep dive into what went well for your business during the holidays, what didn’t go as planned, and what insights you learned that can be applied going forward to improve performance.

10. Review and Update Business Insurance

Talk to a Zensurance broker about your existing coverage to see if any gaps in your business insurance policy may leave you exposed to losses.

For instance, if you’re stockpiling inventory, ensure your policy has adequate coverage limits to account for the total value of your merchandise in the event of damage, loss, or theft.

What Business Insurance Do Retailers and Online Sellers in Canada Need?

Most retail insurance and online sellers’ insurance policies contain the following types of coverage:

• General Liability Insurance: General liability insurance covers your business for third-party bodily injury and property damage claims and lawsuits triggered by incidents that occur at your business’s premises or caused by your usual operations.
  
  For example, if a customer slips, falls, and is injured in your store, general liability insurance may cover their medical and rehabilitation expenses.
• Product Liability Insurance: Usually included with general liability insurance or added to a policy is product liability insurance. It covers third-party bodily injury and property damage claims from customers that suffer an injury or loss caused by a product you manufacture, distribute, or sell (including food items).
  
  For instance, if you sold a skincare product to a customer and that product causes them to suffer an allergic reaction, they could sue you for damages.
• Commercial Property Insurance: Commercial property insurance covers damages to your business premises, contents, and merchandise if damaged by fire, water, extreme weather, theft, or vandalism.
  
  Commercial property insurance often includes business interruption coverage to reimburse your business for net income that’s lost following an insured event, such as a fire that forces you to close for repairs temporarily.
• Cyber Liability Insurance: Cyber threats pose an increasingly significant risk for retailers, online sellers, and small businesses across various industries. Cyber liability insurance helps businesses recover from expensive cyber-attacks and data breaches that compromise their computing network and confidential data.

Frequently Asked Questions About Retail Insurance

What coverage limit should a retail business insurance policy have?

Many retailers and sole proprietors carry between $1 million and $2 million of liability coverage, but the limit that suits your business best depends on its level of risk. 

Does a homeowner’s insurance policy cover an online retail business I’m operating from home?

It depends on the details of your homeowner’s policy. However, most homeowner insurance policies exclude or limit coverage for commercial activities conducted on the premises. Speak to a licensed Zensurance broker to determine if it’s necessary for you to purchase a home-based business insurance policy.

If my retail or online selling business uses a dropshipping model, do I still need commercial property insurance?

Yes. Even if you don’t store merchandise or inventory at your business location, you still have computers, equipment, and other assets that should be covered.

How to Get Low-Cost Retail Insurance Online Quickly

Zensurance is Canada’s leading online business insurance brokerage, helping small business owners, independent professionals, and entrepreneurs get comprehensive protection at an affordable rate to protect their finances and assets, including retail insurance.

Complete our online application for a free quote in less than five minutes.

Our team of knowledgeable and friendly insurance brokers will shop our partner network of over 50 insurers to find the right policy for your business, customize it to suit your needs and budget, and issue the policy documents and a certificate of insurance within 48 hours or less.