11 Ideas for Small Businesses to Overcome the Post-Holiday Sales Slump in 2025

How many businesses are suffering from a post-holiday sales slump? January is notorious amongst small business owners as being a slow sales month. Most people spend a lot of money during the holidays and open their credit card statements in the new year. Households go on spending diets and scale back on luxuries they might normally buy. Others set resolutions to make fewer purchases.

Retailers often suffer from post-holiday returns, which can negate any marketing efforts that might increase sales during Q1 and make the decrease steeper. According to a report on 2024 holiday sales, returns are 28% higher than last year to the tune of $122 billion.

A post-holiday sales slump is almost inevitable. However, brands can utilize the slower pace to engage current and new customers with special offers and attract new business instead of stagnating. 

11 Ideas to Get Your Business Out of a Post-Holiday Slump in 2025

The post-holiday sales drop is a great time to put some new practices in place that will keep a steady revenue stream coming into the company throughout Q1 and beyond. Here are the top ideas to overcome the slow period:

1. Offer Post-Holiday Clearance Sales

Brands can get people to spend money in January if they feel the offer is too good to refuse. Make the time after New Year’s Day an annual clearance event. Companies can move items that didn’t sell in the previous year and bring in some much-needed revenue at the same time. 

Startups may suffer from cash flow problems, so finding ways to offer deep discounts and keep revenue pouring into the organization can encourage growth. 

2. Start a Loyalty Program

A new year is a time when many people cut spending or seek new options for where they spend their funds. A loyalty program shows customers the brand cares about their patronage. It can encourage repeat buyers by rewarding them.

Loyalty offers must provide rewards frequently enough to entice customers to buy often. However, brands must also crunch the numbers to ensure the freebies are to the company’s benefit and keep customers and leadership happy. 

3. Set Up Subscriptions

Nearly any type of product or service can be packaged into a subscription service. Consider how to offer a unique twist monthly. Loyal customers are most likely to sign up when they believe they can only receive a special product by joining the subscription program. 

A great example of this is BarkBox. They might offer a special themed box with a toy subscribers can’t get anywhere else to draw new customers in and keep them buying. The post-holiday sales slump is an excellent time to introduce subscriptions at a reduced introductory price. 

With regular subscribers, companies know how much revenue will come in each month. January might see a sales slump the next year, but subscription fees help offset the lower sales.

4. Focus on Packaging

The perfect time to market for after the holidays is during them. Around 88% of businesses predict holiday sales are about 40% or more of their overall annual revenue. Some ideas that might reduce the sluggishness of a new year include placing sales flyers for January in bags of purchased items or adding it to prettily packaged mailers.

Brands can include a link to the website to encourage more traffic or offer a discount for referrals. Bounce back offers can also be a great way to gain repeat business after the holidays. 

5. Host an Event

Brick-and-mortar stores can host an event or workshop to bring people into the establishment. Whatever the business plans should relate to what they sell. For example, a fashion retailer might offer a style event where they offer suggestions for what pieces of clothing look best on a person.

Some companies throw an open house for local journalists and influencers in an effort to get some buzz going about their brand. Company leaders can have an elevator pitch ready to share and hand out press packets as requested. 

6. Team Up With Other Business Owners

Brands can seek out businesses that are related but not competition. For example, a pizza place works on a promotion with a local movie theater. Anyone who brings in a stub that they ate dinner at the restaurant gets a discount on tickets or vice versa. 

Each company benefits from the other’s mailing lists and social media followers. By working together, they can generate buzz and go viral where they might not be able to market alone. 

7. Learn AI Tools

A slower season is the perfect time to learn how to utilize tools, such as AI-generated videos and images. Coca-Cola released an ad that created quite a stir with AI images that were almost life-like. The marketing agency behind the concept claims 98% of people who viewed the ads recognized them as from Coca-Cola by the end. 

While there is still some debate about the ethics behind AI and how bad it potentially is for the environment, there is still room for smaller brands to tap into the power of machines helping promote a company. Those who fail to use new tools may fall behind other companies. AI levels the playing field so small businesses can compete with large corporations. 

8. Provide Employee Training 

Slower times may not always be about generating massive profits but about rethinking the strategy for the coming year. Well-trained employees can create satisfied customers who remain highly engaged and loyal to a brand.

Look for ways to improve skills in customer service and improve company culture. An employee retreat is an excellent place to start in the new year once everyone recovers from the busy holiday hustle. 

Choose one goal to work on each year and offer the tools, training and encouragement for staff to master the concept. 

9. Work on Cross-Selling to Beat Returns

Since January is a time when many businesses see returns from holiday sales, have a strategy in place to reduce the amounts. For example, employees can have a list of suggestions the person could exchange the item for. 

Another idea is to offer more credit if they exchange the item for a gift certificate. Some may choose to get more funds and thus spend the money in the same store later. Prepare for returns as they are inevitable regardless of the store policy but train employees to try to keep the funds in the store if possible.

10. Tap Into Impulse Purchases

Businesses can encourage higher sales post-holidays by tapping into the power of splurges. A market research firm looked at consumer impulse buying and found around 92% of Americans admit to participating at some point. 

Savvy companies might as well be the ones consumers buy from. Highly targeted pay-per-click ads inform people of a product and drive traffic to the website. Ramp up advertising in mid-January as people begin to recover from holiday spending. 

11. Launch a New Product

What better way to generate some excitement than launching a new product or service? January is the ideal time to announce something fresh. Send emails to regular customers, giving them a preview of the item and a special discount.

Work with influencers to generate some social media chatter about the product launch. Pay for ads, invite local media to attend a reveal and tap into the power of user generated content. Send prototypes to a few key players and ask them to share a photo of them using the product and a little about it to help it go viral. 

Beat the Pavement

There’s an old saying in sales that salespeople have to “beat the pavement” to find success. Although companies no longer have to go door to door, putting in the consistent effort will start to turn sluggish sales around. 

January and February may be traditionally slow months for most companies, but with a plan to keep marketing, announcing new offers and planning for the rest of 2025, most brands can turn around the slow start and make the rest of the year their best one yet.