Winter season has ended and spring brings with it new opportunities for business growth. Retail business owners should focus on ways to market their products and services more efficiently during this season.

According to the National Retail Federation, on an average, U.S. customers spend an estimate of $17.2 billion for Easter, $13.3 billion on father’s day and $20.7 billion on Mother’s day every year.

Coming up with spring-time marketing ideas for your retail business doesn’t have to be as time-consuming and stressful as your winter season planning. In addition, it’s a great way to gear up for the rest of the year.

Marketing Ideas for your Business:

Cleanup and organize your inventory: Spring season is the time to get rid of the old and focus on the new.  It’s an opportunity to clear out products that you’ve had trouble selling. Overstocked items in your inventory can be a huge burden to businesses. Using your retail POS inventory management tool, identify several of these products and find creative ways to promote them. Not only will this help you optimize your inventory, but also get an improved understanding of your retail products. Spring sale boosts your profits for the quarter and gets rid of overstocked items.

According to research, while discounting items, it’s better to create a price ending with 9, such as “$399” or “$89.9” as this strategy increases sales by 24%. Running more basic sales and promotions is a great way to up your spring marketing strategy. Most people expect prices to rise across the board as the summer approaches. So, organizing a large promotion or storewide discount will be sure to attract customers.

Get your Spring Cleaning done via a fresh coat of paint or remodel. Don’t worry about spending a ton of money, you can always opt for retail business financing. Surely, a new coat of paint and some fresh flowers should do the trick for in-store footfalls. You can rearrange the interior of the store and give it a face-lift. Invite your customers, family, and friends to a spring fling party at your retail location and showcase your new spring services or product offerings.

Giveaways: Hosting giveaways is one of the best ways to attract spring-break enthusiasts. A big spring break promotion will attract a lot of customers, both new and existing.  All of these customers will need to register for entry to win a prize. This will grow your customer base and increase your brand loyalty with the existing ones. This is a great opportunity to collect their contact information such as name, phone numbers, emails, birthdays, etc. to grow your marketing database. If possible, focus on spring break events or products for giveaways. Free vacation bags, tickets to a local event, or something like that will entice people to visit your store or website.

Host a fun contest: Spring makes it a great time to center contests around holidays or spring themes. Highlighting sales, deals, discounts, and promotions on your social media pages is an important avenue for marketing. However, hosting a contest encourages engagement via audience participation. This will increase your visibility on social media and make your brand more recognizable. For instance, if you have a pet shop you can start a pet photo contest on Instagram. Create specific hashtags for these kinds of contests. You can offer a prize on Twitter for the most retweets on something brand-related. Whatever you do, incentivize sharing and spreading of the brand name. There are other ways like running Facebook contests around holidays and bring in people together through meetups, events, promotions, sales, or workshops.

Make the most of tax season: It is estimated that nearly two-thirds of individuals expect tax refunds in April. This is a perfect opportunity for retail business owners to encourage customers to use that income to treat themselves. A great incentive to attract customers is to offer a free item or discount with proof of filed taxes.

Themed-Promos and Deals: Whether your retail business is connected to sports or not, March is a big month for basketball. Consider running a #marchmadness – themed promotion. For a sports store, it will be relatively easier but, a non-sports store can also take advantage of the basketball season. For example: “Make the basket and receive a surprise discount”.

Endless Opportunities

Get cheesy with spring puns and plays on words. People prefer ads that make them laugh. If it’s possible with your retail space, try to move part of your store outside. Sidewalk sales grab the attention of those passing by and increase your retail foot traffic. Make a great sign and think about having a staff member greet customers out there.

Spring holidays and events: There are a few big spring holidays and events like St.Patrick’s Day (March 17), Tax Day (April 15), Easter Day (April 21), Earth Day (April 22), Mother’s Day (May 11) and Father’s Day (June 16), which most small businesses use as marketing opportunities. But there are plenty of smaller special days and local events that you can take advantage of.

• Look into community organizations and events like city festivals, farmer’s markets, and charitable events. These are certain ways to give back to the neighborhood and increase your retail store’s visibility. Many people come out for these springtime events so participating is great for business and fun.
• Sponsoring local sports teams like Little League or community softball is another great way to add to your brand identity and recognition. Many of these leagues start in the spring, so “get on the ball” early.
• Lastly, investigate smaller celebratory days during spring season like National Puppy Day (March 23), Waffle Day (March 25), April boasts Tweed Day (April 3), National Beer Day (April 7), National Cheeseball Day (April 17), National Pretzel Day (April 26) and so on. You can find creative ways to incorporate them into your retail store and brand. Your staff and customers will surely love it.