The retail industry is looking forward to spring activity among shoppers looking for great deals after a record-breaking winter. According to reports, harsh weather in January and Februaryhad caused consumers to stay in and posed significant challenges to shipping and fulfilment across the country. The coming rise in temperature is naturally a welcome development.

Businesses looking to snag the earliest spring shoppers need to find exciting new ways to provide incentives and deliver quality shopping experiences. Here are a few tips on how to welcome the news season and new customers:

• Celebrate the optimism of spring through your campaign efforts – Are you putting the best face for your business this season? Whether it's the front page of your web store or the display window of your brick and mortar store, an eye-catching concept and presentation can help turn heads and tempt people to try out your brand.

• Freshen up your inventory – It's time to pack up all the winter gear and deliver exciting new content. Use a warehousing app such as Connected Warehouse to take a physical inventory of your store and decide which of your products are no longer season-appropriate. This will allow your stock to remain fresh and interesting for both first-time consumers and loyal customers.

• Create seasonal bundle items – Another facet of your seasonal marketing efforts can include creating seasonal bundle items at special prices. The Connected Business eCommerce engine allows you to create bundle items and sell individual products at the same time, giving you great flexibility as a retailer.

• Prepare for first time shoppers using their holiday gift cards – Marketing Land advises companies to offer gift cards during the holiday season to create more potential shoppers year round. If you have this program, several of your incoming customers would be redeeming gift cards that they received during the first few months of 2015.

  Take advantage of the post-holiday gift effect by using Connected Business' Gift Cards and Gift Certificates feature. Allow your customers to buy and redeem gift cards and gift certificates through any of your different sales channels. The system keeps track of every gift card code you have issued, ensuring hassle-free management of this offering.

• Spring clean and streamline your web store operations – As you wait for the influx of consumers, it's a good idea to look into your web store and see if you can further improve the customer experience on that end. Make sure your site is optimized for viewing in different devices and that the shopping and checkout process is as intuitive as possible. According to Mashable, looking into the workflow and overall performance of your ecommerce site is a great way to, "enhanced customer experience when interacting with your brand."

Spring is a key period for building a good retail year in terms of earnings, so your team needs to focus on staying relevant and delivering products that capture the interest and imagination. By anticipating the needs and wants of your customers, you'll be making the most out of this new, more optimistic season