If you’re closing up shop for the long weekend or planning on trading over the holidays, Easter can pose a challenge for your small business if you’re unprepared. For retail, Easter is one of the biggest times of the year; not only do businesses shut their doors, but families also take extended breaks as it coincides with the school holidays.
Suppose you are considering trading over the Easter break. In that case, there are a few things that you will need to keep in mind before you commit: Easter trading hours and retail business exemptions, extra operating expenses, and whether it is worth trading over Easter.
Let’s take a look.
Easter trading rules
During the Easter break, there are specific rules around trading. Depending on your state, the restrictions may ultimately decide for you.
Easter trading hours
The trading hours for Easter vary for non-exempt retail businesses in each state. To qualify as an exempt retail trading outlet, you first need to apply with your local government authority (LGA) council and meet the requirements of an exempt retail business. Each state has a list of businesses that qualify for exemption and meet the independent business requirements for exemption as well.
With that being said, the Australian Retail Association (ARA) has provided a cheat sheet for the Easter non-exempt trading hours.
Retail outlets that can trade during Easter
During Easter, select retail outlets can trade during the restricted hours, depending on the state. There are no restrictions for the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory. Here is a list of the rules for each state:
If your retail business falls into any of the exempt businesses that are allowed to trade, you may need to investigate further with your LGA council to see if you require special permissions.
Easter trading checklist
Extra operating steps are involved when trading over Easter, even before you open your doors.
Adjusting payroll
One of the biggest costs involved in holiday trading is payroll. As Good Friday and Easter Monday are both public holidays, you need to know that you will pay double time and a half rates to rostered staff. You need to be able to calculate this extra rate correctly, so it is essential to look into what is required of you when calculating holiday pay rates for your staff.
You should consider annual leave opportunities for staff not rostered for the Easter trading period. Since Easter holidays coincide with school holidays, many families take extended leave to take advantage, so reviewing your annual leave policy is worthwhile.
Inventory management
Easter can provide sales opportunities depending on your business, which means you need to plan for extra inventory. Suppose you own a bakery, the lead up and during Easter, hot-crossed buns will be a product that you can safely assume will be a high seller. The raw materials and expenses of producing enough hot-crossed buns will require you to calculate labour costs and inventory capacity.
The principle is the same for any good or service, whether you produce it or not. Just make sure you have an inventory management plan during or before Easter.
Social media planning
As a retail trader, you should have an online presence not only for your customers who purchase your goods and services over the internet but also for your brand and social media identity. Use social media platforms to leverage your customer base and identity to drive sales. Let’s look at our bakery as an example. You are making hot-crossed buns and bunny-themed cookies, and want to drive sales for these items. Using social media, you can schedule posts and content highlighting your Easter theme pastries in the lead-up and during the holiday period.
Social media is a low-cost marketing and advertising method for reaching outside your local customer base and can influence potential sales, making it a good choice for small businesses. If you do consider using social media, make sure it makes sense for you to do so. Social media can work for a bakery during Easter, but probably not for mechanics.
Revisit previous trading data
Having an established business allows you to revisit past data. You can see what sold well and what didn’t. Let’s look at our bakery. From looking at the easter trends over the years, our bakery owner found that there has been a downward trajectory for their egg-themed cookies. So instead of producing the previous quantity of this product, you only make half and bake more of the hot-crossed buns or a new Easter themed pastry to test for future sales.
In a broader sense, you can also evaluate your business’s operating profitability against previous years. Did your business bring in enough revenue to offset the extra labour and operating expenses? The holiday period can be an exercise in testing your business’s sustainability, giving you insight into the best long-term trading practice for your small business.
Is it worth trading over Easter?
The Australian Retail Association has projected that households will spend up to $18 billion during and before Easter, which means there is money to be made. The real question is whether you should trade over the Easter holidays. Once you have confirmed your business’s eligibility to trade, the extra costs involved, and the viability of your business trading over the break, the answer should be easy.
Having dedicated accounting and payroll software will ease the burden of operating by ensuring you have the correct information about how your business operates throughout the year. So if you are trading over Easter, make the most of it.
