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Summer is winding down so that means preparations for the Holidays are ramping up. The Chamber is ready to help you make the most of the busiest shopping season of the year with a small business promotion that is fun and easy for you.
Last year we launched the Eastern Connecticut Holiday Shopping Trail. This regional promotion encouraged shoppers to visit boutiques, restaurants, and other local businesses with a shopping passport in hand. Shoppers who collected stickers from local businesses throughout eastern Connecticut could win great prizes—including a grand prize of tickets to Ireland aboard Aer Lingus.
Participating businesses may join the Holiday Shopping Trail for free. All you have to do to participate is sign up, hand out passports, greet shoppers, and be ready with a sticker. If they make a purchase of $10 or more, they get an additional sticker, which encourages them to stay and shop or dine. The promotion begins on November 30, Small Business Saturday, and ends on
December 24.
The program provides several ways to promote your business. First, your business is listed in the passport, a neat little shopping guide people will want to keep. Second, you can add a special promotion or highlight a service in your listing. Third, you can promote your business by donating a prize. Your business and generous prize will be listed on the Chamber website and promoted on social media.
Foot traffic into your store can turn into a sale or begin a relationship with a customer. Be ready with bounce back coupons, informational materials, tasty samples of any treats you sell, or your own enter-to-win prizes inside your store to build your email list. The Trail is designed to bring new customers through your door; the more stores a shopper visits the better the prize they can enter to win. Plan ahead to make the most of these introductions.
Working together, we can create a fun, rewarding opportunity for shoppers, while increasing exposure of small businesses across the region. We will provide Holiday Shopping Trail posters for your business. You can add information about the Trail to your promotions and social media.
We are inviting businesses from all over eastern Connecticut to join the trail. We would like the trail to wind from Old Saybrook to Stonington, Waterford to Woodstock, so please join us in promoting the whole region this holiday season.
To participate, business must register before October 15, 2019. For information about the Holiday Shopping Trail or to sign up your business click here.