Super Bowl LII has come and gone. The New England Patriots were the favored team going into the game, but the Philadelphia Eagles were able to conquer in the end. But just because the Super Bowl is over doesn’t mean that retailers can relax. While fans won’t be flooding grocery stores, buying ingredients for chili dip or hot sauce for their wings, they’ll still be visiting sporting goods and apparel stores in droves, buying up hats, jerseys, anything to show support for their team.

This means that sporting goods and apparel retailers need to be ready to sell the right merchandise. Now that the Eagles have won, retailers need to ensure that Eagles merchandise is prominently displayed and the right sales are being advertised. But even that isn’t simple. Different merchandise will be displayed depending on location. Of course, that means different sales are being advertised depending on location. All of this is complicated, and if corporate-to-store communication is inefficient, it can easily break down into failure, resulting in poor customer experience and decreased sales.

What can retailers do to ensure that the days following the Super Bowl are a massive success?

Maximizing Sales After the Big Game

When instructions are emailed down from corporate to stores, issues are inevitable. The wrong sales signage is put up, the shelves are stocked with the incorrect item, or maybe shelves aren’t properly stocked at all. This could prove disastrous on high-traffic days around the Super Bowl, especially the days after, when the winning team’s merchandise always sells well. A few years ago, sales on Peyton Manning merchandise reportedly jumped 500% during the week after the Broncos beat the Patriots in the AFC championship. That makes perfect store execution even more vital to maximizing sales after the Super Bowl.

So how can retailers guarantee that high-traffic items are displayed prominently and proper sales are promoted in the right stores? Real-time task management solutions give store associates a unified interface that they can use to see a list of prioritized tasks. This makes it easier to plan and carry out store tasks, ensuring the highest completion rates from store associates. Store managers can also spend more time on the sales floor, ensuring that store associates are engaged with the correct tasks and making sure that customers are having an excellent experience picking out hats, jerseys, and other memorabilia from their favorite team.

Inconsistent communication also makes it more likely that a store is accidentally displaying the wrong merchandise. Many retailers are sent Super Bowl Champion memorabilia for both teams before the game, which means that they have to rely on quick and clear communication to coordinate displaying the winner’s memorabilia. It’s often more complicated than that, as retailers in Boston aren’t going to prominently display Eagles Super Bowl Champion memorabilia, meaning that displays will vary based on location around the country. Considering how fired up fans get over their favorite teams (a Boston-area company banned Philadelphia cream cheese before the Super Bowl), putting out the wrong merchandise could be disastrous.

With a real-time task management solution, corporate planners can use templates to coordinate different promotions with different stores, ensuring that information isn’t overloaded and the correct merchandise is displayed. Performance and task compliance data can also be compiled so any problem areas can be identified and next year’s Super Bowl promotions can be improved. This feedback loop also helps improve other promotions that occur throughout the year, leading to increased sales and increased task completion levels throughout the entire year.

Sporting goods and apparel retailers can realize a massive boost in their sales if they ensure perfect execution of their retail strategies. With a real-time task management solution, retailers are able to do just that, helping fans celebrate (or grieve) after the big game.