5 Ways to Maximize Your 4th Quarter Sales

Discover five things you can do to maximize your 4th quarter sales and make the most of this important time of year!

What do the 4th quarter in retail businesses and the 4th quarter of a football game have in common? 

This dedicated sports mom noticed more than a few similarities. 

• The 4th quarter of a football game decides whether your team wins or loses the game. 
• In the 4th quarter, teams come from behind to win. 
• Teams who had big leads going into the 4th quarter sometimes blow those leads and end up losing. 
• In the 4th quarter, coaches have to make decisions in the moment and hope those calls are the right ones. 

Does any of this sound like the 4th quarter of a product-based business? 

The 4th quarter in our businesses is SO important. The 4th quarter means, among other things, the holiday season. That time of year when your customers are more ready to buy than at any other time. The 4th quarter can be crazy, exciting, and filled with victories and defeats.

I’ve been through the highs and lows of the 4th quarter in a product-based business and as a subscription box owner for many years. I’ve learned that planning ahead - starting now - is the best way to reduce stress and maximize revenue.

One thing to keep in mind throughout the 4th quarter - your people want to buy from you! Heck, they need you to help them buy gifts for the people on their lists. 

Give them the gift of convenience and generate extra revenue for your business. 

I’ve tested and tried a LOT of ideas over the years when it comes to generating extra revenue in the 4th quarter. And just like a football coach, some of my calls have resulted in wins and others… not so much. 

Today I’m sharing five things that have worked really well for me and have generated a LOT of income for my business during October, November, and December. 

1. Holiday Gift Box  

If you have not yet launched a subscription box, a holiday gift box is a great way to test your audience and get proof of concept! If you already have a subscription box, add a holiday gift box to your lineup to generate additional sales. 

A holiday gift box is a one-time box, not a subscription box. It is a box someone will gift or buy for themselves. Your holiday gift box cannot be the same as your December box - remember, many holiday gift boxes will be purchased by subscribers. It does need to be similar to your subscription box, offering the same type of items and aligning with the experience you provide in your subscription box. After all, there is the possibility you could convert some gift recipients into subscribers!

I suggest pre-selling your holiday gift boxes. I do this every year and recommend you do it for a few reasons. First, you’re selling in October, not waiting until December when everything is already hectic and you’re exhausted. Second, preselling means you know how many you’ve sold and how much product you need to order. 

Your hook? Let your customers know that if they want to guarantee they get a holiday gift box, they need to order now. 

Treat your holiday box like a launch. Create excitement, send emails, post consistently on social media, and go LIVE! For more on holiday gift boxes, read this blog post.

2. Special Promotion to Add New Subscribers 

If you already have a subscription box, plan to open it to your waitlist or open your cart to add more subscribers in October or early November. Consider offering a special bonus gift if they subscribe now. 

Launching your subscription box for the first time? Plan for October or early November at the latest. 

Why? 

Because you need to get people when they are still in the mode of buying for themselves. Once the calendar hits mid-November and certainly for all of December, your audience’s attention shifts from buying for themselves to buying gifts for others.

Don’t get lost in the noise of the holiday buying season. Open to new subscribers or launch in time to give yourself the opportunity to create excitement! Give your audience sneak peeks of your November and December boxes. Show them why they should take action now so they don’t miss out!

3. Gift Subscriptions 

Offering gift subscriptions is one of my favorite things to do to bring more revenue in during the 4th quarter. It’s so easy! I usually run a gift subscription promotion around Black Friday. It’s the only time of year I offer either a six-month or 12-month subscription to my T-Shirt Club. By offering this only once a year, my customers see it as special.

I sweeten the deal by giving one month free with the six-month subscription and two months free with the 12-month subscription. Think you can’t afford to give away $25 or $50 or whatever that comes out to for your business? Think of it like this. First, your cost is not $25 or $50. It may be $5 or $15. Think about what you’re getting back in return. 

• No customer service time is needed to follow up on payments. 
• You’re getting the revenue upfront.

The best part about offering gift subscriptions? The only thing you need to create right now is a gift certificate. You can sell these gift subscriptions now and not fulfill them until January!

The recipient won’t be expecting to receive the subscription until after the holidays. That means you get the revenue from those sales upfront and don’t have to worry about adding more packing and shipping to your and your team’s plates until after the holiday craziness has ended!  

I share even more gift subscription tips in this blog post.  

4. Curated Boxes from Excess Inventory

Having excess inventory is the nature of the beast when you’re a subscription box owner. We don’t always sell all the merchandise. We order extra to allow for any damages or errors. The result is old or extra inventory laying around. 

One way I deal with my excess inventory is to curate special boxes around the holidays. I might have four of one item or three of another that can be mixed and matched to curate a cohesive experience. I give these boxes new names so they don’t feel like leftovers and keep things fresh and fun by adding some new inventory to my leftover stock.

Make these boxes giftable by adding gift tags and making them look special. 

I always create gift sets at different price points so my customers can find something for just about anyone on their list.

5. Mystery Boxes

Each year after Christmas, I do a mystery box liquidation. It’s my version of the after-Christmas wrapping paper sale I hit every year. Whatever’s left after Christmas that has been sitting on my shelves for 90 days or more needs to be liquidated. 

Remember, excess inventory is like piles of money sitting on your shelves. Liquidate it to make back what you spent on it. If you can make a little bit of a profit, even better! Your goal here is to clear out your shelves and make some cash.

I typically put together two sizes of mystery boxes at two different price points. The most important thing is to pack the box full of so much value that the price seems like a no-brainer to your customers. Check out this blog post for more on curating and selling mystery boxes. 

My customers LOVE these mystery boxes and I bet yours will, too.

Wondering how in the world you’re going to make all these things happen in the 4th quarter? You’re not! I don’t recommend doing all of these at once. Choose two or three and spread them across the 4th quarter. Have fun creating special experiences for your customers and generating revenue for your business.