How Do You Get Multiple Stores Ready for the Holidays?

Give every store the same behaviors, not just the same task list. Over-hire and lock the schedule early. Drill what can go wrong, and decide what each assistant manager can fix alone. Have every associate practice the same add-on question. Reset the front of every store each Monday, and count conversions store by store on your busiest Saturdays.

When you have one store, you're the system.

You're on the floor. You hear the greeting. You see who's standing at the counter waiting for the rush to come to them.

When you have five stores, or fifty, your habits don't travel. Your best store is rarely the problem. Your fifth store is.

Google this question and the answers come from software companies selling apps that are checklists.

Those can confirm the reset got done. Upload a picture to prove you did it. Those apps can't tell you whether anyone in store four asked a shopper, "Who else is on your list?"

That's where the holiday is won or lost. Here's how I'd set up every store.

How many seasonal employees should each store hire?

More than you think you need. Staff for the rush, not for your convenience or for what your employees say they can work.

People are going to quit. They're going to get sick. If a store is running lean in early November, it only gets worse from there.

Two-person coverage doesn't work at the holidays. A short crew goes into duck-and-cover mode. All you hear is "Can I help you?" and then they try to ring it up.

That doesn't make you money. It makes your managers work 90 hours and miss every add-on sale. And it can torch your reputation during the busiest season.

With multiple stores, set the staffing rule from the top, based on each store's traffic by hour. Don't let each manager build the crew around who happens to be available. More on that in how to hire seasonal employees for the holidays.

How do I stop holiday schedule swaps from leaving the floor short?

Post the next six weeks early, build it on need, and post the swap rules right next to it.

Employees want to make plans, so don't be afraid to post it. Then have every employee sign it. A schedule in a private Facebook group or a text doesn't mean they've acknowledged it, and you'll hear "I didn't know" when someone doesn't show.

The swap rule matters most. When anyone can trade with anyone, your best people end up off at the very time they could juice your sales. The newest person is left answering questions on your premium goods.

Those premium goods sit.

Across stores, the swap rule should be identical: who can trade, and who signs off. A seasoned associate can pick up a newbie's shift, but not the other way around.

One store with loose rules is the store your district manager will be covering on December 20. Working a double because the schedule fell apart, they figure out the swap rule only applied to them.

That's the night they start updating their résumé.

What should store managers be allowed to decide on their own?

Decide it now, in writing, before the rush. Sit down with each manager and walk through what's likely to go wrong.

You've run out of gift boxes. You've run out of receipt paper. Three employees are stuck and can't come in.

For each one, spell out what they can decide on their own and when they need to reach you. In retail you drill the details, especially at the holidays. This goes for your assistant managers and shift leads, too. You don't have the luxury of thinking for them - you want them to weigh two options and pick one.

With one store, an unplanned problem costs you an hour. With eight stores, if every problem comes up to you, your phone never stops and nobody is selling.

How do I get every store selling the same way?

Practice. Every employee, in every store, role-plays the holiday sale before the shoppers arrive.

Actors don't walk into a studio and wing it. If your associates aren't trained, they will be winging it with your customers, and you'll pay for it in lost sales.

Role-play everything from greeting the holiday shopper to finding out what else is on their list. Practicing on the floor lets associates make mistakes long before those mistakes hit your margins.

Start with one question every store must use: "Who else is on your list?"

Ask it once they've decided what they're getting and before you get to the counter. You'll see them look up and to the left at that imaginary list. If they say they're set, ask, "What about something for you?"

That one question has helped stores hit more sales goals than I can count, because it was asked of every customer.

Not some. Every.

On busy days, add hustle. How long you can spend with each shopper depends on how many people are in the store. Even a quick "This goes well with that" touches another customer instead of leaving them to wait. You can't spend twenty minutes with one customer like you would on a cold Tuesday afternoon.

Hustle.

Then hold a holiday store meeting in every store. Bring food, write an agenda, and cover any layaway, buy online pickup in store, and every promotion and event coming up. It's your last chance to get everyone's questions answered before the next six weeks.

Joy Lee at USA Fishing Outfitters ran it across locations: "We created interstore Zoom mock training sessions so that everybody across stores could practice their skills." Her stores grew 20% over the holidays and broke records at every store.

It's not only the salespeople, either.

Susanne Wolf owned Tops and Bottoms, a lingerie store in Prince George, British Columbia. A few years back, she put everyone through my online training: the bookkeeper, the secretary, the part-time help and the sales staff.

Her goal was to grow sales 15% that fiscal year. She set a separate goal for Christmas and hit it.

That January, she took the whole team to Paris for the international lingerie fair.

She also lost one person. "It does not work for everyone. You said that might happen."

The line I remember most from her email was about hiring: "For the first time I did not hire people because I wanted to help them, but to help me and do things I am not good at."

She'd spent nine years writing her own manuals and store policies. What changed, she said, was that the training came from a third authority. It wasn't the owner telling them, again.

How often should stores reset holiday displays?

Every week until Christmas, and Monday is the day. After a busy weekend, move the front 20% of every store, even if it's just left to right or from a high shelf to a lower one.

Customers come back more than once the closer you get to the holidays. A store that looks the same on the third visit looks picked over.

Movement also makes your staff look at your merchandise in a better light. They find items they can add to a sale, and that helps your margins. Teach them to stifle the complaint they want to share: "We move so much merchandise around I never know where anything is."

Have a display that isn't moving? Add movement or light to it. By December, shoppers are jaded, and making something look new sells it faster than marking it down. Hanging your jeans by the waist? One week, hang them by a belt loop. Have winter scarves? Put them throughout your sales floor as a silent add-on.

Decorations should be up before Thanksgiving. Use lots of lights and bright colors, keep them inclusive, and don't drag out torn decorations from five years ago. Your windows have to look festive. For window ideas, see how to visually merchandise your holiday store windows.

How do I know which stores are converting during the holidays?

Pull up 15 minutes of your store video from your busiest hour and count the bags going out the front door.

Fewer bags means fewer employees helping customers, and that means lower sales. When a manager sees it, they call a quick huddle or talk to the associate who's having a bad day.

But check your schedule first.

If you didn't hire enough people, chewing out your crew for not helping someone or not closing a sale won't fix it. It'll just push a good employee to quit over expectations nobody could meet.

With multiple stores, compare them hour by hour on the same day. If you have door counters, put each store's conversion side by side. The store with traffic and no bags is the one that needs you that afternoon, not after the holiday.

What should stores do with holiday returns?

Turn every return into a sale. It starts at the register.

When someone says they want to return something, the associate says, "You know, we have a sale on right now, so your money actually goes further today. Why don't I hold this here while you take a look around?"

The worst move is letting an employee hand the money back and hope the shopper leaves fast. Put that one line at every register in every store.

How do I keep holiday staff from burning out?

Make your employees' day, and they'll make your customers' day.

On the last Saturday before Christmas, order pizza or bring lunch. Showing you care with food lifts their mood and makes them more effective. Make it a prize each Sunday, with goals from average (you get a cheese pizza) to blowing it away (deluxe with plenty to take home).

Encourage employees to get their own holiday shopping done early. Their breaks won't run as long, and they'll be less stressed on your schedule.

Mind your own attitude, too. A manager who opens the doors saying "I hate holiday music" sends that energy straight through the crew. Associates who feel positive make shoppers relax, and relaxed shoppers buy more.

On Christmas Eve, be the hero. In most stores traffic falls off around 2:00, so let someone go home early and close the store yourself. Just don't close early, because big last-minute sales still happen.

What fixes inconsistent selling across stores?

A checklist tells you a task got done. It can't tell you what was said to the shopper. That takes behavior training, not a set of tips.

SalesRX+ trains every associate in every store on the same selling framework, then sends an unannounced mystery shopper at baseline and again at six months to measure whether the behaviors on the floor actually changed. Barkers NZ and Max ran it across 100 stores and saw an 11.5% average conversion lift, and up to 20% at some locations.

If the holidays showed you which stores sell and which don't, start with retail sales training that works everywhere.

FAQ

How do you get multiple stores ready for the holidays?

Give every store the same behaviors, not just the same task list. Over-hire and lock the schedule early, decide what managers can fix alone, have every associate practice the same add-on question, reset the front of each store every Monday, and compare conversion store by store on your busiest Saturdays.

How do I train staff for Black Friday?

Hold one store meeting with food before Black Friday, then role-play every part of the holiday sale with every associate, from the greeting to “Who else is on your list?” Teach hustle too: the more shoppers in the store, the less time each one gets.

How do I know if my staff is ready for the holiday rush?

Have each associate role-play the holiday sale with you before Black Friday: the greeting, the add-on question and the returns line. If they can’t say it to you, they won’t say it to a shopper. Then count the bags going out the door on 15 minutes of video from your busiest hour.

What is the best add-on question for holiday shoppers?

"Who else is on your list?" Ask it after the shopper has decided what they're buying and before you reach the counter. If they say they're set, follow with, "What about something for you?"

How many seasonal employees should a retail store hire?

Hire for the rush, not for convenience. Two-person coverage doesn't work at the holidays, and employees will quit and get sick, so a store running lean in early November will be short in December.

Should store employees say Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays?

Say Happy Holidays. If a shopper says Merry Christmas first, answer Merry Christmas if you’re comfortable with it. With multiple stores, make it one policy so no associate has to guess. Read more on whether to say Merry Christmas in your store.

When should holiday decorations go up in a retail store?

Before Thanksgiving. Use plenty of lights and bright colors, keep them inclusive, and replace anything torn or tired from past years. If you have a planogram, set it. If you have vendor display materials, get them out of the office or backroom and onto the floor. Someone spent a lot of time on them for your benefit.

How do you turn holiday returns into sales?

At the register, tell the shopper their money goes further during the sale and offer to hold the return while they look around. Don't just hand the money back.