The holiday season is a crucial time for small businesses. It's a time when people are out shopping for gifts, and if you can attract holiday shoppers to your store, you can see a significant boost in sales. But attracting holiday shoppers is only half the battle. You also need to be prepared for the increased traffic and customer volume.

To help you prepare for the holiday season, we've put together a checklist of things you can do to get your small business ready. From decorating your storefront to preparing for the holiday rush, this checklist from the Eagle Chamber of Commerce will help ensure that your small business is ready for anything this holiday season throws your way.

1. Anticipating the Holiday Rush

The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year, so it's important to be prepared for the increased customer volume. Make sure you have enough staff on hand to handle the increased traffic, stock up on supplies, and generally just be prepared for a busy few weeks.

2. Hiring Holiday Staff

If you don't already have enough staff on hand to handle the holiday rush, now is the time to hire some seasonal employees. Seasonal employees can help with everything from stocking shelves to ringing up customers, and they can be a big help during peak times.

3. Decorating Your Store

One of the best ways to attract holiday shoppers is to make your storefront festive and inviting. Hang up some holiday lights, put up garland, and generally make your store look like an inviting, cozy place where people want to shop.

4. Updating Your Marketing for the Holidays

Make sure your marketing materials are updated for the holidays. This includes things like changing your store hours (if necessary), updating your website or social media accounts with holiday-themed images and messages, and creating promotional offers that will appeal to holiday shoppers.

5. Creating a Gift Guide

People often have trouble finding gifts for their loved ones during the holidays. To make things easier on them (and increase your sales), create a gift guide that highlights some of the best items in your store. This will make it easy for people to find gifts for their friends and family members, and it will encourage them to shop at your store.

6. Creating Promotional Offers Using PDFs

PDFs are a great way to create promotional offers that can be easily shared online or through email marketing campaigns. You can use PDFs to create coupons, discounts, or even digital gift cards that can be used at your store. Once you’ve got your master promotional PDF created, you can split them into individual files by separating PDF pages with an online tool. Then you can print or email them to customers to boost your sales.

7) Luring Last-Minute Shoppers

With all of the chaos of the holidays, there are bound to be last-minute shoppers who need help finding gifts at the eleventh hour. To attract these shoppers (and their money), offer special discounts or promotions that are only available to those who shop at the last minute. This will entice them to shop at your store instead of going somewhere else where they may not get such generous deals.

8) Deciding How You'll Give Back to The Community

'Tis the season of giving, after all. One way you can show your customers that you care about more than just making money is by giving back to the community this holiday season. There are many ways you can do this, such as donating products or services to charity auctions or organizing food drives at your store.

The holidays are a crucial time for small businesses, so it's important to be prepared. By following this checklist, you can make sure that your small business is ready for anything that comes its way this holiday season. From decorating your storefront to hiring seasonal staff, there are many things you can do to get ready for the holidays. So start crossing items off this list today and get ready for a successful holiday season!

Connect with and learn from other local business leaders by joining the Eagle Chamber of Commerce.