We all know Tax season is right around the corner. Did you know that by planning your supply orders carefully you can save big time?
When it comes to Liberty Tax there are three main seasons:
- Early Season
- Mid Season
- Late Season
Each serve a different purpose for your clients, and each is structured to make you money. Here are some tips on when to order, what to order, and strategies to save you the most cash this season.
Early Season
Early Season starts in October and runs through February 14th. While early season Liberty Promotions are designed to get customers into the store, there are a lot of things you can be doing to prepare yourself for the rest of the season.
- Candy - Buy candy the day after Halloween. It will won't expire for a couple of months and its perfect for in store, B2B and P2P handouts
- Soda - Stock up when Football season starts. All the grocery stores put soda on sale during this time. Why spend extra cash to stock your store after the great sales?
- Desks, furniture, and office supplies - Order these a couple months early from Office Depot / Office Max. Shipping and logistics is the hardest part of these so ordering early will reduce stress and save you money!
- Promotional giveaway items - Pens, koozies, phone pockets, water bottles, etc. These items all take several weeks to produce and are big and bulky to ship. Make sure to order these by the 2nd week in November to have them at your store before opening day.
- Signs, banners, posters - PotatoheadSigns.com has our best pricing in The October. This is ahead of the rush so take advantage and purchase during The October sale. It helps us stay ahead and it saves you $$.
Mid Season - Feb 15th is the big switch for most stores.
You need to have all items ordered before Feb 1 to make absolutely sure that you will have them in time. However, you don't want to be ordering during peak season, so make sure to mark your calendar on January 15th to place any last minute orders.
Our Tip - Order mid season items with early season items. Grab a big box, Rubbermaid tote, or an unused office/ cubicle and just set all mid season items together untouched until the big day.
Late Season - Most stores start the countdown on April 1st.
While many Liberty stores only use April to market, we like to think bigger and use all of March and April. Between the two months you can use great marketing campaigns like; countdown, appreciation weeks, community events, and PR opportunities. Planning your store's marketing campaign early will help you budget and plan better.
Here is a checklist to make sure to cover:
- What Appreciation weeks your store will hold
- A new waver sign to keep things fresh
- Countdown signs to use occasionally through March and most every day in April.
- A large outdoor banner with Late Season messages
- Late season window graphics, wind flags, and interior posters
- Stock up on any Send A Friend, promotional items, coupons etc that you are low on.
Place your orders during the last week of February or first week of March will give you time to get the right amount of coverage your store needs.