Suffering through the Off Season? Here are 4 Solutions for Brick and Mortar Stores

Suffering through the Off Season? Here are 4 Solutions for Brick and Mortar Stores
Your News: With so many food trucks for sale, you're sure to find one that meets your business' needs.

Very rarely do businesses conduct the same amount of business year round. If you’re a seasonal company, you may find that the off season brings about nothing but worry and budget strains. Thankfully the off season doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing for your company. You can use the off season to your advantage in many different ways. With the right solutions your business can bring in money throughout the year.

Here are 4 solutions for brick and mortar stores who face an off season.

1. Open an Online Store

As a brick and mortar store, you’ve likely already been impacted by the shift from in-person shopping to online shopping. These days around 96% of Americans shop online. While there are perks to owning a brick and mortar store, during the off season, it’s likely very hard to get people into your store. But with the help of the Internet, you can ensure that your business never has an off season.

With an online store you greatly broaden your consumer base. A brick and mortar store typically only attracts local customers and in-town travels, but an online store can be used by customers around the globe. Depending on the product or service you provide, an e-store may be the ideal answer for year round business.

Before opening an online store, be sure your company has a solid web presence. Your company’s website should not only offer a great user-experience, it should be tailored towards mobile shoppers. This ensures your website has the largest reach possible, which in turn puts your online store in the hands of an endless amount of customers.

2. Get a Food Truck

If you sell seasonal food or want to avoid the slow season during the off months, one way to continue to share your delicious meals with customers is to purchase a food truck. These days the food truck craze continues around the globe, especially as consumers look for convenient and on-the-go ways to enjoy their favorite foods.

With so many food trucks for sale, you’re sure to find one that meets your business’ needs. These days you can find food trucks with deep fryers, deep freezers, large water tanks, and many other must-have appliances.

But before you buy a food truck, there are some factors you’ll want to consider. Aside from your budget, think about how you plan to prep and sell food. Some trucks are equipped for prepping food and keeping it warm while others are designed for on-the-go preparation.

Other factors to consider before purchasing a truck include:

  • State/city food truck regulations
  • New vs. used
  • Maintenance costs

With a food truck as part of your company, you can continue to serve customers in your local area or even travel to more tourism-heavy areas where you can ensure there’s business to be made.

3. Offer New Products & Services

Chances are your business experiences an off season because of the products and/or services that you offer. One of the most effective ways to minimize the drawbacks of off season is to offer products and services that meet the other seasonal needs of your customers.

For example, let’s assume you run a brick and mortar landscaping company. This type of service is usually very popular during most months, except for when the weather turns cold. Instead of hibernating business during the winter, offer a service, such as snow removal, or a product, such as de-icing solution, that your customers can purchase.

By adding complementary products and services to your business’ offering, customers will realize that there’s no off season for needing to do business with your company.

4. Create Off Season Excitement

Just because it’s off season doesn’t mean that customers have to lose interest in your product or service. During the slower months, ramp up marketing and find ways to generate buzz and excitement around your company. The most effective way to do this is to run social media campaigns. Using social media you can push seasonal sales and share tidbits of information about upcoming product releases.

The more attention and buzz you’re able to build around your company, the better. Think about companies that run Christmas in July campaigns, or those that sell beach items in the dead of winter. If there’s a will, there’s a way!

Conclusion

With these solutions, you no longer have to worry about what challenges this year’s off season will bring. Instead you can focus on boosting your online presence or becoming the next local food truck craze in your area.

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