Fashion Exposed Revived will take place on 20 – 24 February 2015 at Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park. Organiser AGHA shares some business insights ahead of the event, which will also feature a series of industry seminars. Head here for more.
‘Tis the season to be jolly, as the well-loved Christmas carol goes. But truth be told, ‘tis the season to also be quite stressed, especially for retailers.
Indeed, Christmas is a fabulous time of the year, when the holidays are just around the corner and people spend time with their loved ones.
However, it’s also a time when customers’ emotions are at an all-time high, they’re run off their feet and purchasing decisions can be quite haphazard.
“I think customers want direction at Christmas. They want to be guided, they want to have options, they want things to be easily laid out, and they want variety,” says Chris Tourgelis, owner of quirky homewares store Opus, which has been running for almost 50 years in Sydney.
“People are in a frenzy, so they want things managed professionally and of course, they want good service and have things done efficiently at that time.”
I had a chat with a few retailers for their tips on how you can survive the festive season and make it out on the other end, successful and sane!
Transforming your store into something festive will bring a smile to your customers’ faces and hopefully in the right mood to go shopping.
“Put on some nice music, burn a nice Christmas candle or change things up a bit,” says Clohesy. “Step it up a notch, and make it look great and feel great. If people are in a good mood and they’re happy, they’ll buy more and that’s what it’s about!”
However, it’s also important not to turn your store into a “Christmas cave” too early in October, which can have the opposite effect on customers, warns Tourgelis.
Speaking of merchandising, make sure your your best sellers and Christmas gifts are all near the front of the store, where customers can spot them when they walk through the door.
Now’s the time to step up your customer service and offer shoppers wonderful wrapping with their purchases. Little thoughtful gestures like that can often encourage those same customers to return to you in the future. And on that note, make sure you’ve got extra quantities of bags, wraps and stickers on hand so that you’re prepared for the Christmas rush.
According to Amber Clohesy from Melbourne homewares store The Woodsfolk, retailers sometimes run the risk of bringing out too much new products during Christmas. Now is the time for consolidation.
“With the products that you’ve had in store for awhile, it’s always best to make sure you’ve got really good stock levels of popular items, because you just don’t know how much people have been making mental notes during the year to pick something up for Christmas. And if you don’t have it, it will lead to disappointment,” she advises.
On another note, ensure you have a good range of products at different price points and some solid options for all different demographics in your store, just to help your customers along when it comes to gift buying.
Clohesy, who also runs wholesale business Down to the Woods, emphasised the importance of not being too conservative when placing Christmas orders several months in advance. Unfortunately, when it comes to the weeks leading up to Christmas, Clohesy will receive panicked calls from retailers either placing their initial orders or desperately wanting to top them up.
“I think retailers will often leave their Christmas purchasing too late. During the winter months, and especially at the trade shows, they might think about it, but their figures might not be great, so they’re stuck in the now and can’t fathom spending that amount of money,” says Clohesy. “Then it gets too this time of the year and lo and behold, it gets busy and they get caught out. They didn’t plan their stock out and they’re caught short.”
“I think orders just have to be made at the very latest by the end of September. If you want something, the chances are other retailers will love it and the wholesaler will sell out of it. So to avoid disappointment, order early.”