You’ve made your list and checked it twice. Your shelves are stocked and your holiday hours are set.

Ecommerce sales are booming, while fewer and fewer people are turning to brick and mortar stores for their holiday shopping fix. This means each customer impression at your store counts now more than ever.

Total holiday retail traffic

between 2012 and 2013, and has continued to steadily drop off.

You know your stores like the back of your mitten, but facilities maintenance is an often overlooked aspect of holiday preparation.

Stay on your customers’ nice list this year and make sure your retail store is ready for holiday shopping season with these tips:

An influx of bustling shoppers paired with adverse weather conditions in certain areas can lead to devastating risks for your store.

SMS Assist, a national service provider with over 90,000 client locations, reports

than the average month.

Partnering with a facilities maintenance service provider that indemnifies clients for slip and fall claims and keeps parking lots safe and clear during the holiday season can make the difference between a happy holiday or coal in your profit stocking.

The decorative lights and holiday displays that your customers love can also create obstacles for your standard window and floor cleaning routine.

Working with a national service provider who strategically manages your stores’ scheduled services will help with this process and ensure a holly jolly shopping experience for all.

Consider a proactive approach for your scheduled floor care and window washing services.

Mother nature never goes home for the holidays, but some of your contractors might. Many of them may also be busy with the endless calls that pour in during the winter months, and you cannot afford to lose business because your usual snowplow contractor is buried in calls.

Contractors’ hectic winter schedules are no match for a provider with a large network of vendors and a technology platform to manage them.

Before you see the first flake of the season, confirm that your national service provider has secondary and even tertiary contractors available in your area.

of Americans plan to start their holiday shopping before Thanksgiving, and

shoppers will take to the stores on Black Friday.

When your customers are lined up around the block in anticipation of your door-buster deals, the last thing you need is a stock room full of damaged merchandise.

Your less-insulated storage rooms and basements are the most susceptible areas in your store for frozen pipes or pipe bursts during the winter season.

Pressure from the holiday retail madness can make these types of problems extra stressful. Make sure that you are

working with a trusted vendor or service provider who is a phone call away 24/7 365 days a year, so that you can resolve these issues quickly, even during your extended holiday hours.

From the madness of Black Friday to the abundance of lights and holiday displays, there are more factors affecting your facilities maintenance during the holiday season than any other time of year.

Your facilities maintenance strategy is crucial to the success of your brick and mortar business this holiday season.

Partnering with a strategic facilities maintenance provider can keep your business looking like a winter wonderland and help you have a happy and profitable season this winter.

Sources: Mintel - “Americans Deck the Halls;” Shoppertrak - “Holiday Wrap;” National Retail Federation - “140 Million Holiday Shoppers Likely to Take Advantage of Thanksgiving Weekend Deals in Stores and Online, According to NRF”