04/ 02/ 2002
If the ching-ching of cash registers is your favorite sound, you need to know which times of the day and which days of the week your cash registers are most likely to ring up high volumes of sales. Do you know which these are? In today's and next week's Workshops, contributor Jeffrey Moses discusses the best times of the week to pay special attention to business. This information is vital for businesses, because it allows owners to focus resources on the particular evenings, days and times each week that offer the most potential.
The longer you're in business, the more you'll notice that the pattern of customer traffic and sales volume in your store is not arbitrary. Each week is a repeating cycle, in terms of which evenings are the most active for almost all types of businesses, including retail stores, restaurants and bars, theaters, malls, etc. In descending order these evenings are, with the most active first:
- Friday evening -- by far the most active of the week. Taxi cabs are zipping back and forth across town, restaurants and theaters are most likely to be full, and many other types of retail businesses are humming.
- Saturday evening -- significantly less active than Friday evening, but still very busy for most types of business.
- Thursday evening -- surprisingly almost as busy as Saturday evening in terms of business activity.
- Monday evening -- much less busy than Thursday evening.
- Wednesday evening -- Just a little busier than Tuesday.
- Tuesday evening -- usually very slow.
- Sunday evening -- the slowest business evening of the week.
Why this pattern, which repeats almost unvaried each week? Probably because by Friday evening, people are ready to get out after a week of work and they don't have to get up early the next morning. Also, many people are eager to start spending their fresh Friday paycheck.
Saturday evening is very active for the same reasons, because people already have let off some steam on Friday (and spent some of their money).
Thursday is a surprisingly strong third, because people are tired of staying in Tuesday and Wednesday evenings and they know that the weekend is right around the corner and are already are revving up for fun.
Monday is more active than either Wednesday and Tuesday, but significantly less active than Thursday. This is perhaps because on Monday people haven't quite settled down yet to the grind of the work week. Also, Monday is a notoriously hard day emotionally for many people and they want to get out to release some stress.
Wednesday and Tuesday evenings are less active than Monday evening because people have focused their energies on work or school. They're tired from a day's work, and they know they have to get up early the next day.
Sunday is the most quiet evening of the week from the standpoint of business activity because people are getting ready for the upcoming work week. They're relaxing after weekend activities, and just want to settle in at home.
How can you, a business owner, make use of this information? In numerous ways. For instance, if you have a retail store, you know that Friday is the evening to stay open late, not Tuesday or Wednesday. And if you, the owner, are going to take a few evenings off each week, take off Sunday and Tuesday, not Thursday and Friday. Also, if you advertise on TV, try to get a package that offers the most spots on Sunday evening, when people are home watching TV. Try to avoid Friday TV spots, because not as many people will be home to see them (unless your spots are on very late at night). If you advertise on radio, however, Friday could be a good evening because people are out in their cars driving around.
One note of interest: if you're involved in phone sales of any type, Sunday evening can be a great time to catch someone for a casual chat. Be sure to ask if they're busy - if they're not and feel like talking, you might be able to have a much more relaxed talk with them than any other night of the week.
Next week's Workshop focuses on the best days of the week for business, and the best times during each day.
workshops.microbusiness.fri
9.22.00
