The Holiday Store Readiness Checklist: Let’s Make Your Cash Register Sing!
We haven’t even survived Halloween yet, and Black Friday still looms large, but the holidays are coming fast.
So, here’s a friendly nudge: Print this checklist, keep it handy, and use it to set your store for the holiday season. Then check it again in November and December to make sure your sales floor stays fresh, festive, and ready to rock.
1. Step Outside and Take a Look Around
Be honest: What does your store’s curb appeal say right now?
Is your entry clean and free of clutter?
Have your windows made the shift from spooky to sparkly?
Does your signage scream “holiday magic” or “Halloween hangover”?
Is your décor festive enough to put shoppers in a buying mood — but not so overdone it looks like Santa’s workshop exploded?
Your storefront is your handshake with the customer. Make it a good one.
2. Give Them the Full Holiday Experience
Once shoppers step inside, they should immediately feel the holidays.
Scent sells. If it smells like the season, you’re halfway to the sale. Grab a few holiday-scented diffusers or get a scent machine (cinnamon, evergreen, sugar cookie; your call). Place them throughout the store, especially near the door. If you sell candles, cross-merchandise them at the counter (Be careful with candles, we don’t recommend lit candles on your sales floor). If it smells, it sells!
Music matters. The right playlist keeps shoppers happy and shopping. Choose upbeat, familiar tunes that make them want to stay.
3. Don’t Mess with the Decompression Zone
That first 5 to 10 feet inside your door is sacred. This is where shoppers transition from the outside world to your world. They’re getting their bearings, so anything you put here will be ignored. Let the space breathe. The shopping begins just beyond it.
4. Set Your Speed Bumps to Sell
Speed Bumps are small tables or fixtures just past your Decompression Zone, loaded with irresistible product. They work just like the ones in the parking lot: they make people slow down and pay attention. Use your speed bump displays to highlight new, exciting, or high-margin product that deserves to stop shoppers in their tracks.
5. Carts and Baskets: Don’t Make Them Ask
There’s a reason discount stores offer carts at the door: shoppers who use them spend 25% more and shop 15 minutes longer. But right at the front door isn’t always the best place to store them.
Keep carts right past the Decompression Zone.
Place baskets everywhere on the sales floor – yes, everywhere.
Train associates to notice when a customer is juggling too much and offer a cart or basket.
No carts? No problem. Offer to hold their items at the counter. Shoppers stop buying when their hands are full, so don’t let that happen.
6. Master the Impulse Zones
Unplanned purchases are your best friend. Merchandise Outposts, products that are displayed outside of where they are usually housed, and placed throughout your sales floor, keep customers discovering new things.
Refresh them every week (more often if you’re busy and have repeat customers). Even moving the same product to a new spot makes it feel brand new.
7. End Features That Actually Sell
Your End Features should scream: “You need this!” Focus on:
Hot new items
Killer deals
Great value buys
Keep it simple and use Vertical Merchandising to make shoppers look up and down as well as forward. When customers see more, they buy more.
8. Cross-Merchandise Like a Retail Rockstar
Cross-merchandising makes shopping easy and increases your average sale. Pair complementary products together so customers don’t have to think.
Clip-strips, baskets, bundled displays – it all works.
When customers can see how products fit together, they buy more and forget less. That’s a win-win. (Need fixtures? Azar Displays has you covered.)
9. Sell, Sell, SELL Gift Cards!
Gift cards are a gold mine. Here’s why:
61% of customers spend more than the amount of their gift card.
55% of gift cards recipients require more than one trip to the store.
Display them proudly, add signage, package them in a unique way that represents your brand, and train your team to mention them. Gift cards aren’t boring; they’re your secret weapon.
10. The Cash Wrap: Impulse Central
Your cashwrap is where the magic happens.
Load it up with easy-grab, gotta-have-it impulse products.
Use the wall behind your counter for a knockout display.
Place a Merchandise Outpost near the checkout queue to keep customers shopping while they wait.
Make Your Golden Quarter Shine!
Golden Quarter sales are amazing, but they don’t last forever. This is your moment to make the most of it. So, grab this checklist, walk your sales floor, and look at your store like a customer. Make notes, set priorities, and start tweaking.
You’ve got this! And if you need a little holiday pep talk, you know where to find us.