Retailers' Guide To Christmas

There's a reason that the Christmas period is known as the ‘Golden Quarter’ in retail. This peak season is the ideal time to really enhance your sales figures for the year. Of course, just being in business isn't enough though - you need to stand out against your competitors and do everything you can to turn heads and convert customers.

While many businesses turn their attention to online retail, the in-store experience is still of massive importance, especially in the run up to Christmas. In fact, 19% of customers are still last-minute shopping on Christmas Eve [1]. Failing to invest in visual merchandising and marketing during this time could be your downfall!

How can I increase my Christmas sales?

Traditional POS displays have a timeless appeal. Using them for your Christmas retail campaigns will help to boost sales. Using poster stands indoors, and pavement signs outside, will help draw existing and new customers into your premises, towards your promotions, and encourage them to make add-on purchases or choose upsell options.

Think carefully about your Christmas window display and what products you wish to feature in order to entice passersby. You might want to flex your creativity and draw a festive scene with some liquid chalk marker pens, or place some seasonal props onto display plinths and pedestals.

Indoors, use rustic chalkboard signage for some items, such as bread, wine, cheese and handmade goods, and glossy high-end signage for others, such as perfume, cashmere jumpers or shoes, to appeal to different customer needs and encourage impulse buys.

Use portable FSDUs (free standing display units) and reconfigurable displays such as slatwall or gridwall. Not only do these allow you to keep your displays looking fresh for the new season, they also make it easy for you to rearrange the store layout as and when required. With portable or reconfigurable POS displays, if you find that an area of the store is getting too crowded, you can then simply change it as you see fit.

Did you know that Christmas gift shoppers tend to spend more time in-store, and make more impulse buys than regular shoppers [2]? This is a key reason why it's important for your Christmas pavement signage and window displays to draw them in to your business. Department store windows and Christmas markets are famed for their ability to do this, often via the use of ‘retailtainment’ [3].

What is retailtainment?

Retailtainment is a combination of retail and entertainment. Visitors to your shop are more likely to enter and make purchases when they're being entertained, and Christmas displays are a particularly fun way to do this.

If you sell toys or decorations, make sure you consider the needs of the children who are being dragged around your store by stressed-out parents. Turning your shop into a place of playfulness, rather than just purchasing, will be an easy win. The marketing and PR manager for children's toy shop The Entertainer explains that ‘[t]he child being more important than the adult’ is a core part of their Christmas retail strategy [4].

Food retail displays at Christmas

70% of Christmas shoppers change their minds based on promotions, and 2/3 of Christmas shoppers reported spending more than planned due to POP displays [5].

Additionally, overhead signage is an ideal choice as, even in a more crowded or rushed scenario, your customers can find out where they are and where they need to be with a quick glance. Most supermarkets and department stores tend to have standard overhead aisle signs to point customers in the right direction. Why not give them some extra help with their Christmas shopping, by adding temporary overhead signage to point out your Christmas promotions? This is not only extra in-store advertising for your shop, it actually provides value for your customers by making their lives easier.

Christmas promotion ideas for retail

Supermarkets ought to consider various types of family sizes and make sure to cater to all. Promote range of smaller meal deals, half-size bottles of wine and champagne, and smaller packs of Christmas crackers and table settings for smaller families, alongside larger quantities for big families and parties.

On the approach to Christmas, supermarkets and other food retailers must consider what products their customers will likely want to buy together as part of their big Christmas shop. Clever cross-merchandising at Christmas can really boost sales and AOV.

5 product bundling ideas for cross-merchandising at Christmas:

One option is to offer gift wrapping. You could even offer a choice to ship direct from your store to the gift recipient. Options like these will be welcomed by busy shoppers.

Having good queuing systems is an important concern at this busy time of year. Having an organised and spacious area for queuing is important, but you should still choose to use this area to display smaller items for add-on purchases. This is an easy way to boost your profits by increasing the average value of each purchase.

Christmas display ideas for retail

References