Retail Barometer: Planning For The Festive Season

Retail barometer: planning for the festive season

3 How are you planning for this year's Festive Season and how important is it for your business?

We spoke with:
Alan Martin, Food For Thought, Guildford
Jordan Clements, Wild Oats, Bristol
Elise Clitheroe, REco Store, Tiptree, Essex
Jo Hill, Amaranth Wellbeing, Stockport
Paul Nugent, Elsecar Health Store, Barnsley

Guildford: More optimistic this year
Bristol: Supporting local businesses
Tiptree, Essex: Emphasis on affordable
Stockport: Careful planning, loyalty scheme
Barnsley: Local collaboration

Here's what our five panellists have to say about the festive season and its place in overall annual performance:

Paul Nugent: "The festive period is great. I love it. It's very easy to seek extra revenue with some of my local food ranges, so yes it can be a revenue spinner. However, I'm cautious to not forget the goods that get me though the full year, and what customers expect to see on the shelves. For that reason I make sure that any 'extra seasonal offers' don't take space or importance over the products that keep you going for the other 10 months of the year.

"I've started building collaborations with local pubs and a farm shop to do evenings/events which reach out into the wider community at Christmas. This worked well last year, as it created extra sales, but also generated a lot of awareness and goodwill. I organised a 'bake-off and quiz' at one local pub and that went down really well. So yes, Christmas sales are important but I'm in no way dependent on them."

Jo Hill: "The main thing for the festive season is to plan ahead. September to November goes so quickly. I have been working on an analysis of last year's sales for the festive period and planning what I am looking for this year in terms of price points, brands etc. I then plan a festive evening mid-November with drinks and offers so that we can get ahead with Christmas sales (before people have bought elsewhere).

"Alongside this is a newsletter campaign showcasing gifts, gift-with-purchase or added value offers. I never do Black Friday or discounts but I do promote our loyalty scheme and give our regular customers a small Christmas gift. Christmas trade is good for us with November and December being the busiest months of the year but costs are higher too – utilities, decorations, extra staffing, packaging and the risk of reductions of seasonal stock, so it is not always the most profitable."

Alan Martin: "All our planning for the festive season is done, our orders have been placed and we are well ahead with our promotional plan, store merchandising plan and instore sampling schedule. I feel much more optimistic about this year compared to how I felt last year [Food For Thought had three stores at the planning stage last year].

"This year is so much more straightforward. I am emboldened with the depth and breadth of the seasonal offering from Dundeis. It feels in line with what we had in the heyday of our business pre-pandemic. We are going big, we are going bold and we are going to be offering our customers something different."

Jordan Clements: "We will continue to support local independent businesses by stocking their items for the festive season and by making sure what we offer is different from our competitors and the big supermarkets. We will likely run some loyalty discount days in the run up to Christmas to entice more people to shop with us."

Elise Clitheroe: "This year, we have definitely seen a decline in the purchasing of gifts etc. in our shop. The essentials continue to sell well. Customers are definitely being more careful. Therefore, for this Christmas, we are being very careful to stock affordable 'stocking fillers' and in smaller stock quantities than previous years."

Her conclusion sums up the tenor of our 'Retail Barometer' feature: "We are confident that we will survive the next year and whatever it throws at us but know we will have to work hard and be creative to entice new customers in."