How To Promote Your Business Now That School Is In

It’s the first day of school! Kids all across the country are back in class today, making it a special time of year for parents, students, teachers – just about everybody! Business owners are certainly part of this special group. The start of a new school year unofficially marks the beginning of a new shopping season.

For the past month, back to school shopping has significantly impacted the sales numbers of businesses of all sizes. But just because school is in, it doesn’t mean the sales have to dip. There are, in fact, numerous ways that business owners can keep their sales numbers high now that school is in.

Keep your back to school sales going.

Some retailers falsely believe that back to school sales are to end once school has actually started. While it’s true that such sales are launched well before the start of each school year, there’s no reason to stop them once the classrooms have been filled. Needless to say, school supplies, clothes and numerous other items are still highly sought after at this time of year.

“During the Back to School sale season, parents may be financially stressed, but they are in a shopping frame of mind,” writes Marta Segal Block on Groupon.com, “You don’t need to jump through hoops to connect your product or service to school, just call it a Back to School sale. Don’t forget that college students and teachers also go back to school this time of year and their needs are different, and usually more expensive, than those of grade school children.”

Create bundle packages.

For nearly every consumer, the name of the game is savings. Not every single one of your items is a hot seller. Use this opportunity to create some bundle packages that include your high sellers along with some oft-overlooked products that would serve as good compliments. Offer them together for a discounted rate to help move more inventory off the shelves.

On FiveStars.com, Lisa Furgison highlights the bundle promotion as a top back to school marketing idea. “Families aren’t just looking to clear a list of school supplies, they’re looking to get the best deals on all-things-school,” she writes, “While you can certainly discount prices, you might consider bundling several products together as an attractive deal.”

Cater to the kids.

The parents might be the ones spending the money. But remember that it’s the students who currently have the most pressing needs. Now that school has begun, it’s a good idea to focus your advertising energies on what appeals to school-goers. Block notes that a recent study puts the shopping power of children at over a trillion dollars annually!

“That’s not just what kids are spending out of their allowance, but what they’re influencing their parents to buy as well,” she clarifies, “Teens and tweens are one of the fastest growing markets for beauty-related services and purchases. Back to School season is a great time to try and capture some of that revenue.”

Highlight your gift cards.

There are parents all over the country who are allowing their children to do some of their back to school shopping themselves. They accomplish this by buying gift cards for their kids. At Canadian POS, we proudly offer electronic gift cards which help to boost sales all year long! For more information, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-877-748-2884 or email us at info@localhost.