Thanksgiving has traditionally been a day for family, turkey, and football, but increasingly retailers are viewing the holiday as a chance to kick the Christmas shopping season into high gear. Retailers get a hard time getting every order right every year in the busiest time of the year.
From managing orders, tracking customers and users, recording all those invoices to making sure that the data is secure, everything is a mess. But we’ve got a solution for retailers – let online rental software do all that and more!
Retailers can operate from a storefront located on the 10th street or manage orders online. Even if you have a brick and mortar store, you still opt for an online storefront – reaching customers from different locations at a time. So having equipment rental software is a win-win situation for all.
The best part about having an online rental business is that you can stay open 24 hours a day, every day; even in the busiest days this shopping season.
Scroll down to unveil some noteworthy points which if utilized well can help you make the most out of this holiday season. Uncover things you can be doing now to make your business more attractive and valuable.
Order Management – Take profitability to new heights
Equipment availability and reliability comes first when you are in the rental business. Equipment rental management can be pretty tough for businesses during the Christmas holidays.
Not only must they ensure all their tools and equipment are well maintained with optimized working efficiency, but they must also have a fail-safe system to keep track of asset availability and customer history. Order creation is a skill that’s tested the most during Christmas shopping sprees at various stores.
An intuitive equipment rental software enables you to add items to an order in a breeze. Efficient order management enables you to identify unavailable items to avoid booking conflicts. Set bookings, print invoices, offer discounts, add bundles and so much more. Make sure all the items are in best shape – check when was the last time it was inspected.
48.7 million Americans are predicted to hit the road and take to the skies and we know what this means. People will be renting out vacation kits and rental cars, buying gifts for family, booking hotel rooms, and getting orders shipped.
Get your gear all prepared – the storm is coming (the higher sales storm). All the more reason, to populate your data and orders on an equipment rental software and manage them on the go!
Market Trends – Maximize profitability with Hot Offers
Profitability depends on having the right rental equipment at the right time. To achieve that in the rental business, you need to stay in the know and be proactive to meet customers’ changing demands. For businesses dealing in electronics, the game is super strong and competitive after apparel.
- Target customers with discounted deals on TV sets, gaming consoles, and DSLR cameras; at a price they can’t resist.
- Reduce rental prices so more customers engage – feature items on your webstore as ‘sale items’ or ‘items of the season’.
- Use tier pricing plans to the fullest to define seasonal prices on items most wanted this season. An online storefront baked into equipment rental software can be useful to put ‘featured’ items for the customers.
Don’t go for something that they would be buying no matter what awesome offer you have! People will buy the same detergent on Thanksgiving that they would have bought any other day.
Another market trend implies that millennials spend a greater portion of their income on Thanksgiving shopping than non-millennial, which leads to attracting millennials when devising offers and hot selling items.
Tracking Customers and Employees
More than having the right rental equipment, profitability requires the need of right knowledge for a true market edge. From customer service, marketing, and selling skills to managing teams and finances. Effective team collaboration leads to smart business decisions.
Without a proper tracking system, orders can be devastating. How many orders did User A booked and which orders were not fulfilled by User B can highlight user performance and ensures you don’t leave any order out. Receive alerts on order bookings and overdue returns – don’t let ineffective team collaboration ruin holidays for your customers.
A streamlined rental management solution makes order management efficient. Record all your customers’ data right into one system – making customer engagement a breeze. This helps in identifying the sales trend and forecasting customer behavior towards the items they rent/buy the most.
Online rental software also enables you to draft customer and business-centric newsletters, targeting deals and items they want the most. A customer wants to pick an order from a franchise in another state? Have multiple locations added to the customer details and make the process easy for them.
Online Storefront and Data Security
Customers expectations have now increased! The power of word of mouse AKA social media has now increased five times the impact of word of mouth. Customers are increasingly relying on ways to shop and pay online. There are several ways that customers find you on the web and knowing your name and getting to your online storefront is one of them.
Having a strong digital presence attracts more customers. One of the most noted benefits of having an online storefront is that your customers can place orders 24/7 and you can even set business hours.
But who wants to do that this season? When retailers are deciding whether to open the stores this Thanksgiving or not, you can just sit back and take orders on the go. Last year, according to the National Retail Federation, 103 million people shopped online over the holiday weekend.
Read More: Who is open this Thanksgiving?
Ensuring the safety of customers’ data is critical to every business. When making online payments, customers trust you while using different payment gateways that their credentials won’t leak or be misused.
Having a SaaS-based rental software for your business ensures increased security in many ways. Web-based apps keep on updating and performing security patches from time to time. This lets your IT team focus on other security concerns within the company.
Collectively, both these elements provide you with a comprehensive security strategy backed up on the system.
Did you know? Cybercrime and cyberspying cost the U.S. economy $100 billion annually – Center for Strategic and International Studies
Invoice and Document Management
Who is keeping a record of all those invoices piling up at the store and managing documents when you don’t have a minute spare to take lunch breaks? Automating invoice and document management is the solution to reduce all those hours you spend after work just to ensure everything is in order.
The online rental software clears the hassle and much more when it comes to invoicing and documenting. Design and print invoices and get rental agreements customized and e-signed. Be prepared before the shopping season knocks your door.
EZRentOut offers efficient order management and equipment tracking, enhanced customer management, customizable online storefront, complete document management and easy to make print orders. Click here to learn more about EZRentOut
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