Summer can feel like the dog days for furniture retailers. Customers are often too busy soaking up the sun to spend time pondering new living room sets. But just like a master chef doesn’t take a vacation from cooking, you can’t take a break from driving sales. Here are 5 surefire strategies to keep your cash registers ringing through the summer slump:

1. Dust Off an Old Marketing Vehicle

Just like your favorite vintage t-shirt, some old-school marketing tactics never go out of style. Whether it’s direct mail, radio, or even the good ol’ newspaper, experiment with reviving a vehicle you haven’t leveraged in a while. Customers get desensitized to the same marketing channels – a fresh approach could be just what you need to grab their attention.

2. Refocus Your Branding

When sales start to sag, the knee-jerk reaction is often to pile on the promotional messaging. But a summer slump may actually be an opportune time to reintroduce customers to your brand story and reinforce customer loyalty. Reallocate some of your promotional budget to brand-oriented awareness campaigns to fortify your long-term equity.

3. Get Creative with Cross-Category Offers

Can’t get customers interested in that new sectional? Maybe bundling unexpected cross-category offers will pique their interest. For example, tossing in a free grill accessories kit or patio set with any living room purchase. Out-of-the-box combo deals could be just the thing to get deal-seekers over the summer hump.

4. Prep Evergreen Clearance Events

One of the best ways to create demand? Make customers feel like they’re getting a killer deal. Get ahead of the summer slowdown by planning a few evergreen flash clearance sales you can quickly roll out. Having these perennial promotions teed up will allow you to respond to demand ebbs and flows with urgency-driving offers.

5. Experiment with Digital Spend Pacing

With more eyes glued to screens during summer’s scorchers, this could be an ideal time to experiment with reallocating some of your digital spend. See if strategically timing bursts of increased digital exposure during peak demand periods results in better return than a flat, steady investment. The analytics will tell the story.

The summer slump doesn’t have to be a seasonal inevitability. With a little ingenuity and the right mix of tactics, you can keep sales sizzling straight through to autumn’s peak. Stay hungry, stay creative, and most importantly – stay cool!