4 ways retailers can make the most of Shop Small Saturday and extend their success to the rest of the year

Jennifer Ortakales/Business Insider

Dina Leor's East Village shop, La Sirena, captivates tourists and locals with handmade Mexican folk-art gifts.

• Gregg Bishop oversees the New York City Office of Small Business Services, which serves 230,000 businesses in all five boroughs.
• While holiday shopping accounts for 20% to 30% of annual revenues for small businesses, the benefits of the rush can be extended to the rest of the year.
• Bishop sat down with Business Insider to share his top tips for how small retailers can prepare for the season's business - and busyness.
• Visit BI Prime for more stories.

For the past three years, Gregg Bishop has spent the Saturday after Thanksgiving in a different borough visiting local shops during one of the busiest days of the retail calendar.

This year, Bishop will be in Brooklyn touring shops like Pipsqueak toys, 21 Tara fashion boutique, Brooklyn Sweet Spot bakery, and the Green in BKLYN eco-lifestyle shop that are members of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District.

As New York City's Commissioner for Small Business Services, Bishop partners with the city's 76 BIDs and provides legal, financial, and educational support for the city's 230,000 small businesses.

Commissioner Bishop sat down with Business Insider to share his advice for small businesses in New York - and anywhere else, really - to make the most of the holiday shopping season.

Forecast your inventory and incentives

It may sound obvious, but it's important to remember: You can't sell what you don't have, and overstocked items can cost you money.

"You want to make sure that you have inventory levels that match your potential sales projections," Bishop said.

The last thing you want on one of the biggest retail days of the year is a shortage of popular products or a surplus of unpopular ones taking up valuable shelf space.

Bishop also advises offering special deals that encourage shoppers to stop in - but again, make sure you have the supply to meet increased demand.

Customer resource management

Small Business Saturday is also a major opportunity to deepen the relationship you have with new and returning customers.

"If you don't have a good customer relationship management system, you should implement that," Bishop said. "This is how you keep in touch with your customers after the holidays."

There are many commercial solutions available, but something as simple as a clipboard sign-up sheet or simple spreadsheet software can help get the ball rolling for minimal cost.

Small shops "can actually give a more customized experience," Bishop said. "I think that's where retail is going. It's more about the experience, and small businesses can easily adapt to that."

Strengthen neighborhood partnerships

NYC SBS

NYC Small Business Services Commissioner Gregg Bishop (center) at a BID event in Brooklyn.

In addition to building relationships with customers, the holiday season is also a time to reach out to other businesses in your community.

"We want to make sure our businesses use this time and their marketing dollars to partner with other organizations, like your local chambers [of commerce], or business improvement district," Bishop said.

NYC's Business Improvement District program is the largest in the US, with 76 BIDs that cover 283 miles of commercial and industrial corridors in the city.

Not every city has such a robust program - and less than half NYC's small business are located in a BID - but the next few weeks are a good time to strengthen local connections.

It may be a busy time within your shop, but taking a moment to step outside and visit your nearby establishments could lead to year-round benefits.

Manage your digital presence

Whether your business sells online or not, search results and review sites are a key part of small business success.

"If you don't have online presence, then you're going to miss a potential sale," Bishop said.

He added that every small business should review their online presence for accuracy (his team offers trainings on search engine optimization and e-commerce strategies).

More than 55 million people will take to the roads, rails, and skies this holiday weekend, and more than twice that many will be traveling around the country in December, according to AAA.

Visiting shoppers increasingly want to find local gems like hand-crafted folk art that they can't get anywhere else. That trend favors small businesses, but if those visitors can't find your store online, they may never make it to your doorstep.

Reminding customers to leave ratings and reviews about their holiday shopping experience is an effective way to help other customers find and visit your store.

Bishop says holiday sales account for 20% to 30% of annual revenues for small businesses, and there's a larger reason why that money matters to him.

"When you buy at a local business, 67 cents of that dollar you spend stay in that community," Bishop said. "They make up the fabric of our neighborhoods. So during this season, we just want to remind New Yorkers to support our small businesses."