As summer draws to an end and fades into fall, cool breezes and falling leaves should not be the only thing on your mind. Now is the perfect time to start planning fun, in-store events to boost sales and generate business while also getting the community involved in your store. The iconic symbol of Halloween is the pumpkin. October provides the perfect opportunity to combine a weekend sale with the creativity and excitement of a pumpkin carving contest. Here are a few simple ideas.
A pumpkin carving contest is a great way to get people into your store and can take place over a few days. If you choose to do a weekend you can have pumpkins dropped off by contestants on Thursday, Friday and/or Saturday with the judging held at a time on the last day you so choose. You can have numerous categories for pumpkin carvings ranging from best overall, scariest, funniest, most creative, most original and more! The judges should be your employees with the winners of each category receiving a gift card to the store.
Though the point of the pumpkin carving contest is to have fun and to draw customers to the store, give them a reason to stay once they show up to drop off their pumpkins. Offer some snacks and beverages appropriate for the fall season. This may include some complimentary apple cider and cookies. The main attraction, however, should be a BIG FALL SALE. Choose this weekend to correlate with the pumpkin carving contest because many people will be in and out of your store while dropping off their pumpkins and viewing the other contestants work. This is the perfect time to have some great sales throughout your store.
With a couple of months to prepare for your fall blowout sale, you will be able to select the items you wish to have on sale based on need for the time of year and advertise the sale for a few weeks! This will gain notoriety not only for the pumpkin carving contest, but for the sale itself. Take the time to have some fun, enjoy the fall season and make some money while you are at it!