Can we expect a sales surge before Christmas?

Q: My business has been a little off this holiday season and I talked to other merchants -– some are doing well and some are not doing as well. Can we expect a sales surge in this last week before Christmas?

A: We are going up against some big days from a year ago so it would take a lot of effort to beat those numbers in the final stretch. That being said, there are two extra days this year between Thanksgiving and Christmas, which gives us a little more time to meet our sales goals.

If your business is a bit soft, you should be thinking now about how quickly your want to take your markdowns, and how deep your markdowns are going to be. There’s not much you can do about the holiday season now, but you can put yourself in a stronger position for next season by clearing out as much inventory as possible.