Now in its fourth year, Small Business Saturday was launched by the Small Business Administration as the traditional kick-off season for independent retailers and restaurateurs. Falling between Black Friday and Cyber Monday—November 30 this year—Small Business Saturday celebrates small businesses and all they contribute to their communities.

When it comes to holiday shopping, most consumers feel positive about patronizing small businesses and shopping locally—but sometimes they need a little helpful nudge, especially when it comes to considering their local salon as a shopping destination. Consider the following tips for boosting your Small Business Saturday and holiday sales:

Host an Open House. Plan an event that celebrates your clients and thanks them for their patronage, while creating an exciting shopping event. Serve a festive drink, a few nibbles, and have extra staff on hand to dole out a few complimentary express services. Pre-holiday Saturdays in the salon are busy enough so choose another evening but begin marketing the event on Small Business Saturday.

Create Easy-to-Grab Gifts. Bundle beauty products to create gift sets at different price points. Gift-wrap a number of the sets to make them attractive and convenient for shoppers.

Beauty for the Stockings. Trigger your guests’ shopping impulses by strategically place small beauty items, such as nail polish, hair accessories, styling products, next to the cash register with a clever sign suggesting they make the perfect stocking stuffers.

Ramp Up Staff. Recruit college students who are home for the holidays for some extra helping hands on Small Business Saturday and beyond. They’ll appreciate the extra cash, and your guests will appreciate the extra help with shopping, wrapping gifts and ringing up sales.

Create a Santa Shopping Service. Create a special promotional service where your loyal guests can list all the special services and products they’d love to receive from your salon, then offer to email those suggestions to your guests’ spouses as helpful shopping suggestions.

Leverage Your Social Reach. Promote your Small Business Saturday promotion through your Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages with clever photos of some of the gift-giving ideas shoppers can find in the salon.

Partner with Other Small Businesses. Look around your community for other small businesses—boutiques, restaurants, photographers, bakers, fitness gyms, florists—who can partner with you to create clever Small Business Saturday events and gift packages.

For more tips, ideas and strategies, visit the Small Business Admistration's website.

Stacey Soble

Stacey Soble

Editor in Chief, Salon Today

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