How to succeed in seasonal

Christmas is upon on us once again, so I thought it would be useful to pen a few words on how to succeed in seasonal. As Country Choice’s Product Development Manager, the team and I actually start planning for Christmas twelve months in advance. During the lead up to Christmas, a small team of us spend a day out of the office, visiting stores, markets and restaurants looking for inspiration and new ideas – product, merchandising, messaging – anything that could give our stores the edge. Believe it or not our Christmas range is signed off just before Easter. This allows time to agree forecasts with our larger customers and organise production in time to get stock into our depots and on to customers for October. And that readers is my first tip on ‘how to succeed in season’ – start early!

The multiples are masters at seasonal which is why events like Christmas, Easter and Halloween have grown in importance over the years with between +1% and +2% year-on-year growth coming just from seasonal events. My second tip for success is great merchandising – off-shelf display units placed in a busy part of the store such as by the till or facing your entrance to catch shoppers as they enter. Many of our larger retailers make great use of off-shelf display units – for in-store bakery a floor standing impulse display unit can account for 30% or more of sales.

Tip number 3? For Christmas specifically, stock a range with broad appeal – something premium to complement your coffee offer, a treat for the afternoon school run (our Funtime Chocolate Orange Doughnuts were so popular they sold out with four weeks to go – but don’t’ worry we still have plenty of Snowman Cupcakes and Christmas Jammy Shortbread!) and, of course mince pies – we offer a wide range of mince pies from value to premium, ready-to-bake as well as thaw & serve – pre-pack them in 4s or 6s to make them easy to shop and of course encourage spend. Don’t forget a premium mince pie to go by the coffee machine – this year’s Crumble Topped Mince Pie is pre-wrapped, thaw & serve and has a fourteen-day shelf-life wrapped. My fourth and last tip is – get your staff involved! Till upsells on Christmas lines work a treat – catch your shoppers while they’re in the festive mood – “a Christmas Jammy Shortcake to go with that”, or “some Mini Christmas Gingerbread Biscuits for kids”. Hope you’ve found my little blog useful – I’m now off to visit some stores and start planning for Christmas 2020. Merry Christmas from me and everyone at Country Choice.

Not seen the Christmas range? Click here and take a look!