For many children’s activity providers, the festive season can be unusually quiet. While high-street retailers are running Black Friday deals and festive sales, you might be running reduced services — or even taking a well-earned break after a busy term.

And yet, the question remains:

How can you make the most of seasonal promotions when your peak time doesn’t arrive until summer?

Even if you tried to get ahead and publish your summer holiday programme now, most parents aren’t quite ready to commit that far in advance. Family schedules change, childcare needs shift — and early bookings often lead to endless admin and amendments later.

That’s where Hivelink Account Credit can unlock a completely new way to generate seasonal revenue.

Account credit works just like a prepaid store card. It allows your customers to pay money into their Hivelink account now, ready to use for future bookings.

There are three ways account credit can appear on a customer’s account:

Account balances never expire, and you can set clear policies on what can (or can’t) be purchased using credit.

Seasonal promotions like Black Friday or New Year Deals are the perfect opportunity to encourage families to top up their accounts — even when they’re not ready to book specific sessions.

For example:

This gives parents real value and gives your business immediate cash flow at a typically quiet time of year.

Some Hivelink clients have gone even further with clever tiered incentives that encourage larger purchases:

It’s a win-win: parents get more for their money, while you lock in loyalty for the year ahead. With a large account balance already waiting, customers are far less likely to shop around with other providers.

During busy sales periods, families are bombarded with offers — so your message needs to stand out.

If your activity programmes are Ofsted-registered and you accept Childcare Vouchers or Tax-Free Childcare, your offer becomes even more appealing. Many parents have remaining balances within these schemes that can only be spent on Ofsted-registered activities.

By highlighting this in your marketing, you can show parents how they can combine their unused voucher balance with your seasonal store credit offer for even greater value.

Once your campaign is live, Hivelink’s powerful filtering tools make it easy to reach the right audience.

You can quickly identify parents who have previously used Childcare Vouchers or Tax-Free Childcare, then send them targeted messages inviting them to take advantage of your current offers.

This approach combines smart marketing, automated admin, and meaningful engagement — all from within your Hivelink dashboard.

Even when your bookings slow down, your business doesn’t have to. By offering discounted store credit through Hivelink, you can: