A Powerful Tool For Holiday Season Prep In Retail

The holiday season represents a particularly busy and volatile time of year for retail stores. And while retailers are accustomed to managing this season, each year can present unique circumstances, surprising traffic and intense competition that require significant preparation in order to prevent losses and maximize profitability.

Certain aspects of the holiday season make it especially challenging to manage inventory and merchandising. While retailers face the challenges of managing inventory all year long, during the holiday season, higher inventories of merchandise are usually stocked in the back of the store or in warehouses, as well as on store shelves, and on special displays and end-caps in anticipation of higher-than-normal traffic. In the back of the store, there is risk for the additional inventory to get misplaced, lost or damaged. At the shelf, extra merchandise may present a safety hazard if improperly stacked.

The holiday season lasts approximately 60 days, almost three times as long as other retail special events such as Valentine's Day, Halloween or Back-to-School. The holidays are bigger, longer and busier than any other seasonal event, making it a challenge from both an operations and loss prevention standpoint.

Savvy retailers prepare for these challenges long before the holiday season is upon them. Audits are a powerful tool that can help retailers ensure that processes and procedures are in place to streamline operations and minimize losses during the season.