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Published: February 7, 2010 3:00 a.m.

Ring up interest over Valentine’s Day

BRUCE FREEMAN | Scripps Howard News Service

Q. I own a number of small retail shops and a restaurant and am currently planning for the Valentine’s Day rush. Are there any helpful tips that can help me get the most out of this holiday and other holidays in general?

A. Holidays are important for retailers and restaurants, and it’s important to create a positive customer experience to keep customers coming back during slower times, said Barbara Roeber, senior vice president at First Data.

Roeber suggests the following strategies to help businesses make the most of Valentine’s Day and other busy seasons.

Offer gift cards. Affordable gift-card programs are available for businesses of all sizes and can add revenue from uplift upon card redemption – 69 percent of gift-card recipients report spending more than the value of the card, according to First Data’s 2008 U.S. Gift Card Consumer Insights Survey.

Suggest creative giving ideas. Create gift-card displays with ideas to personalize gift cards – such as the gift of a date night with a bouquet of flowers paired with a restaurant gift card. You can reduce the guesswork by pairing a box of chocolates with a jewelry or fashion gift card so the recipients can choose something they really want.

Offer incentives for gift-card purchases. Encourage customers to buy gift cards by offering bonuses such as a $10 in-store reward or a box of chocolates for every $50 gift-card purchase.

Provide a shipping time line. Let customers know when they need to complete purchases to guarantee shipping before Valentine’s Day.

Follow up on online interest. If customers leave an online shopping cart without completing a purchase, send them an e-mail reminder that they have items in their basket and that online transactions are just as secure as purchases made in the store.

Consider special incentives for your most loyal customers. Encourage loyal customers to buy gifts at your business by creating special incentives for loyalty program members.

Train employees to watch for fraud. Unfortunately, a busy shopping holiday attracts fraudsters. Remind employees to be on the lookout for suspicious activity throughout the busy season and make sure all employees follow policies about ID verification and safeguarding sensitive information to help protect your customers and business.

Bruce Freeman, The Small Business Professor, is president of ProLine Communications, a marketing and public-relations firm in Livingston, N.J., and author of “Birthing the Elephant” (Ten Speed Press). E-mail questions to bruce@smallbusinessprof.com.
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