New year, new look. Are you ready for your annual store reset​?

There’s no doubt the holiday season is always a whirlwind for retailers. There’s the excitement of big product launches, seasonal hiring, and preparing the store for an influx of shoppers and last-minute gift givers.

But as the new year approaches, retailers face the annual task of resetting their stores to transition from the holiday rush back to the regular shopping season. This critical period gives you the opportunity to reorganize, revamp, and reinvigorate your retail space.

In this article, we'll explore effective strategies and tips for resetting your stores, ensuring a seamless transition, and blazing a trail towards a successful year.

How can a retail reset help elevate the employee experience?

Offer employee training to boost morale

Provide training sessions or refresher courses for your staff to ensure they are well-prepared for the new season. Encourage team morale with incentives and recognition for their hard work during the holidays. Make training convenient through on-demand video or set up virtual meetings using the latest in audio visual meeting space technology.

Easily offboard seasonal workers

Create a seamless offboarding experience using automated workflows with business process automation. Route your offboarding paperwork; store employee information in a secured, compliant location; and enable employee self-service such as viewing pay stubs, completing forms, and more.

See how this major retailer digitized 50,000 HR documents >

It's the perfect time for markdowns and inventory restocking

Clearance and inventory management make way for new merchandise

Start by clearing out leftover holiday merchandise. Offer attractive clearance sales to entice post-holiday shoppers. Take stock of your inventory, identify slow-moving items, and plan markdowns or promotions to minimize excess stock.

Inventory restocking creates positive shopping experiences

As you sell your holiday inventory, restock shelves with essentials and popular items to meet customer demands. Maintain a lean inventory strategy to avoid overstocking.

Here's how Fetch Robotics and Ricoh made service and support as intelligent and self-sufficient as autonomous technology >

Store resets can lead to a retail environment refresh

Give your visual merchandising a makeover

Update your store's visual appeal by rearranging displays, refreshing signage, updating gondolas and endcaps, and reimagining product planograms. Focus on creating a clean, uncluttered look that showcases your core products and any new arrivals.

Reevaluate your overall store layout to rev up your sales revenue

Analyze data from the holiday season to identify high-traffic areas and optimize them for better sales opportunities. Additionally, why not consider revising your store layout to improve foot traffic flow and customer navigation.

The new year is the perfect time for visual and seasonal transition

This is a good time to reinforce your in-store branding to build additional brand equity. Replacing holiday hues of reds, greens, oranges, and yellows with an emphasis on your brand's color palette is a great place to start. From window clings to flyers and everything in between, we can assist with your in-house print production needs.

Explore our Graphic Communication Solutions for help with signage and merchandising.

An easy way to enhance the customer experience

Smart lockers can help with post-holiday returns

Elevate the employee and customer experience by incorporating intelligent, digital smart locker systems to help process those post-holiday returns. Smart lockers free up employees from doing manual tasks and help customers avoid long lines.

Keep in touch with your customers

Stay connected with your customers through email newsletters or social media updates to inform them of new arrivals, promotions, and upcoming events. Gather feedback from holiday shoppers to make improvements based on their experiences.

Be mindful of health and safety measures

Continue to prioritize health and safety by adhering to local health guidelines and maintaining enhanced cleaning protocols. Communicate your commitment to customer safety to build trust. Cleaning robots are a good way to help relieve your staff from mundane duties allowing them to focus on more important tasks.

Need help maintaining your in-store robots and cobots? Team up with RICOH Service Advantage.

Plan for future holidays

It’s never too early to prepare. Use this time to start planning for the next holiday season. Share sales data and customer feedback with your vendors to help them improve their products and pricing. Create a win-win for everyone: the retailer, the vendor, and ultimately the customer.

Ready, set, let's reset your store

Resetting your retail stores after the holidays is a crucial step in transitioning to the next phase of the retail calendar. It provides an opportunity to reorganize, restock, and rejuvenate your store environment while maintaining a strong connection with your customers. By implementing these strategies, you can ensure a smooth transition, enhance the shopping experience, and position your retail business for success in the new year.