For many retailers, Christmas is make or break time, with a large percentage of their annual turnover taking place during December.
Yet how many really make the most of the sharp increase in customer traffic which occurs at this period?
Working the season is more than making sure you’ve got the right stock in attractive displays. It’s certainly more than the promotional activity which takes place through catalogues and other marketing activity. If we’re doing it right, the real benefits of Christmas should be seen long term through customer loyalty and repeat business.
That said, having been a Christmas Shopper way too often of late, I’ve experienced too few experiences which are memorable – in a good way, that is. If you want me to come back to your store, cherish me. Show me that you’re interested and have listened to what I have to say. I’m hoping that you know your stock better than I do, so tell me about things that might be of interest to me (and no, I don’t mean the current promotion which every single customer is being told about – it doesn’t make me feel special and it’s usually not in the least bit of interest to me, anyway). It’s Christmas, I have presents to buy and if you can help me with solutions, I’m going to love you forever.
On a final note, I know Christmas on the shop floor is exhausting. I know that having to listen to the same Christmas carols day in day old gets old pretty quickly, but here’s the thing: keep it to yourself. Don’t discuss it with your colleagues within earshot of customers or, worse still, whilst they’re in front of you (as happened to me recently). No matter how cute you try to make it, unless you have a pre-existing relationship with that customer, you just sound whiny.
Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas, whichever side of the counter I’m on. But as a retailer, I know that it’s my big opportunity not just to make sales, but to impress my customers and have them leave my store happy. If I’m not working to gain repeat business, then I’ve failed to seize opportunity.
Christmas is great; the adrenalin is flowing, the days fly by and there’s that satisfying sound of tills ringing. But if you get it right, it’s going to set you up for the year ahead. Because Christmas really is more than it’s cracked up to be.
