Every year on the second Sunday in March, our clocks spring forward one hour into Daylight Savings Time (DST). If you’re not prepared for DST, it can create a headache for you and your customers. Need some help? Here’s a primer on how to navigate DST and some unique opportunities DST can offer your business.
What is Daylight Savings Time?
Originally developed to increase productivity for farmers, DST is a seasonal time change that pushes the clock ahead to lengthen the amount of sunlight in one day. When DST starts in the spring, clocks are set to skip one hour ahead. On the day of the DST transition, there are only 23 hours.
While moving the clocks forward an one hour might seem like a small change, the Department of Transportation cites that DST reduces energy consumption, prevents traffic accidents, and reduces crime. Nevertheless, it’s important as a business to be prepared for the transition.
Notify Your Customers About DST
If you’re an online brand catering to clients around the world, it is important to let them know what DST is. The ideal way is to either post a notification on your company’s website or social media pages to let your clients know that your business hours are changing. If you run a physical store, try hanging a note outside the store reminding your clients about the shift.
By constantly sending reminders to your customers, you’re encouraging them to anticipate the upcoming change and prepare properly.
Promote Evening Shopping
One of the benefits of Daylight Savings Time is that it offers everyone more daylight. During sunlight hours, people are less lethargic and lazy, and customers are more lively as well. This encourages your customers to stay outdoors longer. That means DST is an excellent time to encourage evening shopping, when the sun is still shining brightly.
When the changeover occurs, send a reminder to your email list, including all the benefits of visiting your location in the evening. With more customers coming in to shop after work, you can grow your retail base substantially.
Promotions to Compensate for Lost Hours
Since the DST changeover occurs at midnight, it takes away an hour of normal sleeping time, forcing everyone to adjust their biological clocks. Likewise, Daylight Saving Time often has people complaining about lost time and losing an hour of sleep. That lost time also offers a new need to fulfill within your customer base.
When DST rolls around the corner, come up with innovative ways to play to this complaint, such as offering special daylight saving time discounts. Some other clever options include marketing a sale to “make up for their lost time by saving money”. If you’re not prepared to launch a new sale, focus on the concept of time and remind your customers of when to visit your store.
Finally, if you hold a DST promotion, make sure to market it effectively with a range of flyers, window signs, calendars, and banner stands.
Utilize Natural Light
DST’s main benefit is better utilization of the sun. Likewise, DST presents the opportunity to find various ways to incorporate natural light into the workday to make your customers more comfortable. This could mean walking client meetings or spending more time in conference rooms with the larger windows.
By utilizing natural light, you’re also facilitating the sleep pattern reset your employees will need after the change. Utilize light to enforce your business’ schedule, to keep both your customers’ and employees’ circadian rhythms in check.
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