Plan Now to Win This Holiday Season

Play on Your Strengths
It can be tough to compete against high-profile merchandisers because of their buying power and advertising clout. That said, smaller retailers have a significant advantage if they specialize in a particular niche.

“It’s easy to take on the big guys if you specialize in a specific type of product,” says Fulmer. “You can market that thing, in particular, better than large retailers who sell across multiple categories. Use your expertise to do a really good job advertising via social media and targeted display ads. Your competition might not have the time and resources to put a marketing effort against the one thing you’re working on — and chances are they can’t do it as well as you.”