How to prepare your business for the Christmas season?
Christmas is a crucial time for retailers. Many sectors experience a peak in activity at this time of year: wine shops, delicatessens, cheese shops, bakeries, etc. A large proportion of turnover is achieved at Christmas, so it is essential to prepare your business well.
Setting up your business for Christmas
Energize your business
This is the time to review the layout of your business to highlight the offers created for the occasion, and to ensure that you have enough stock of your products! At this time of year, avoid logistical problems. As the flow of customers is one of the highest in the year, every second counts. Temporarily reorganize your shop by moving some furniture around for optimal and fluid circulation. This new layout will give your shop a dynamic feel and a touch of freshness.
Managing your stock for the holidays
How will you manage the supply of your shelves or displays during this busy period? With furniture that has storage space. They will be your best allies. This furniture will allow you to optimize the restocking of your shelves, to manage your stocks on the sales floor, and a little more, it will avoid the incessant return trips to the storeroom. You can also select furniture such as the 12-cube shelf unit and 15-cube shef unit, or the solid wood central display units. They will give you more exposure, so your products will be more visible.
Showcasing your best products
Now that you know how to control the restocking of your products on your display units, think about how you want to display your products. For the Christmas season, give priority to the flagship products. These products will attract customers if they are displayed at the entrance to your store. If these are products that naturally sell well, without any particular promotions, this festive period will boost their sales. And this is achieved through a well laid out display on wheels in your sales area, with the right products displayed.
Optimising your reception counter
Finally, the checkout area is a very strategic part of your store. Opt for a reception counter with storage space for bags, rolls of cash, paper and gift boxes, as well as accessories for impulse buying. In exceptional cases, it is better to have too much stock than not enough. This will enable you to cope with the large influx of customers to be collected.
Decorating your business for the holidays
The magic of Christmas comes first and foremost through decoration. Not only inside, but also in your shop window! Choose simple and bright LED garlands to decorate your point of sale. Select objects that symbolize Christmas: holly branches, pine cones, Father Christmas, fake snow, baubles...
As we explained in a previous article, it is crucial to liven up your shop window with the seasons, and Christmas is one of them. There are so many ways to decorate your shop window. You can put stickers, fake snow and upturned wooden crates to display some products, and add a small, elegantly decorated Christmas tree. Keep in mind that the shop window has an essential role to play in attracting customers, especially during the festive season. A shop window accounts for 50% of the visits to the shop during this period.
For your sales area, the idea is the same. Buy a Christmas tree to liven up your shop's layout. It will also create a warm and friendly atmosphere, favorable to Christmas shopping. Think of air fresheners for a successful olfactory experience: pine and spice scents are very popular with customers. A musical background can also charm them. A nice decoration creates a good state of mind to trigger more purchases.
Defining your shop's promotions and events
Define promotions
It is necessary for a retailer to adapt his offer for Christmas. This will show your customers that you have thought of everything to please them, but also to offer them a variety of products. Plan promotions and special offers for the occasion, as customers are fond of good deals and discounts. Some examples of discounts you can apply are: vouchers, special offers such as "buy one get one free", or percentage discounts. Gift ideas can be part of your current offer. You can create gift boxes with local products or your best nectars. These practical boxes are very popular with most people, as they avoid having to search for several products to buy in order to create their own gift baskets.
Create dedicated offers
To present your new offers, but also to animate your business, the signage will be your best tool. It all depends on the layout of your business, you can put up posters on your solid wood displays to present your gift boxes, as well as your flagship products. The signage will also help your customers to find their way around. Christmas is a good time to create new posters to keep with the theme. Don't forget that they must be legible and understood by everyone.
Set up animations on the sales area
Finally, let's take care of the animation of your sales area! Create animations according to the activity of your business. Organize mulled wine or hot chocolate tastings, or tastings of products that you sell especially for Christmas. You can also offer a small gift after your customers have checked out, such as samples or an accessory related to your business. This is always a nice touch during the festive season.
