Seven things to get ready for Holiday selling right now
Our number one law of the Retail Jungle has always been – If you are not 90 days early you are late. While that axiom may still work for spring and back-to-school, the Holiday planning window keeps creeping forward. Forget Moms, Dads and Grads … if you don’t have Holiday planned by now, you are in trouble, and behind your major competitors.
“Christmas in July” is now Holiday planning is even earlier
When it was still apropos to use the term Christmas, most major vendors held “Christmas in July” planning sessions. Some even mocked up stores with Christmas trees, Santa and other Holiday decorations to simulate Holiday seasonal store planning in July. In the last decade, Holiday planning has crept into June. However, due to the nature of the economy, and even more pressure on inventory, precise execution is even more critical. Holiday planning is now taking place in May.
I have advocated several times that you should check Ad Age as part of “smartbrief” scan list. This past week’s Ad Age had a great post by Jonathan Baskin on why the Holiday season will be here sooner than you realize. In fact, I would give you the same advice as Baskin: if you don’t have these Holiday fundamentals planned, stop reading this and convene a meeting of the appropriate parties immediately!
Holiday sales will require Execution Excellence!
While there are some positive signs that the economy is turning around and consumers are returning to shop, the sales projections for Holiday are modest at best. With two consecutive, bleak seasons, all signs point similar trends as last year – extensive shopper research online, with careful spending focused on “value”.
Said another way, Holiday planning is not as much about “making a splash”, as it is about operational execution. Early indications from the best of breed indicate that website quality, pricing/value, services and staffing will be essential differentiators beyond product assortment and plan-o-grams. The key is being prepared … NOW!
The 7 fundamentals to get planned for Holiday by May
Ok, let’s be honest here. No one has holiday fully baked, at least in terms of final assortments and ads. But, the best at retail execution are aggressively completing Holiday plans for key fundamentals that have proven to be key differentiators with customers in the past two seasons.
In his post, Baskin does a great job creating a sense of urgency and highlighting why there is no time for CMOs to smell the May flowers. Permit me to build on Baskin’s points, and share some additional insights from some head merchants I have spoken with in regard to seven fundamentals that should be planned by May:
1. Nix the clever video, email or ad campaign.
The consumer is so bombarded with messages that it is impossible to break through the clutter with a single ad, or even a clever video that might go viral. Instead of going for the one “break-through” campaign, it is critical to be in multiple media and channels.
2. Think and plan social right now.
One place where your consumers clearly will be is in “social”. While Facebook may dominate, there are many ways to reach current and new customers through multiple formats. The key is having a plan and a “voice” for Twitter, blogs and other social media. You can’t simply start tweeting in November and expect to reach the masses.
3. Highlight service as a differentiator.
With the internet, virtually everything becomes a commodity, or at least similarly priced. The key differentiator is service with and after the sale. That includes everything from the efficiency of Amazon on the web, to hiring and training enough staff who can truly engage consumers in ways that add value beyond the mere product.
4. Make service a lead-gen activity.
The power of the Geeks, Geniuses and Gurus is well documented in terms of revenue, profit and satisfaction. But, it is amazing and alarming how few retailers use service areas and call centers as lead generation activities. Something as simple as well written FAQs on a website can create a “conversation” and advocacy on the part of consumers. The best are finally implementing CRM for service areas in an effort to improve satisfaction and extend solutions.
5. Creative pricing and purchase options
Simply taking mark downs is expensive and lazy retailing. If you slash prices after Christmas, you are broadcasting that you gouged your consumers. Enlightened retailers know that price sensitivity varies greatly depending upon the consumer’s mindset, and how pressed they are in specific shopping weeks. Now is the time to plan for tests of price elasticity early in the Holiday season. Now is also the time to plan for bundles, especially service bundles that add value to time strapped Holiday shoppers.
6. Anticipate rush … remove the pain.
Consumers are not only voting with their wallets, they are voting where to shop based on time consumed and pain of their experience. Now is the time to prepare for the holiday rush. It takes infrastructure, time, training and planning on how to execute in ways to remove “shopper pain”, especially for crunch periods like Black Friday, as well as cyber Monday. With current trends toward internet sales, the time to test the capacity and speed of checkout with peak Holiday volume is now.
7. Plan for the holidays … and the days after.
If you have been watching the trends, there is increasing sales to be had after the peak holiday periods. Part of it is due to the trend toward gift cards. Some of it may be due to “gift swappers” and bargain hunters. There are some major opportunities to capitalize on both holiday sales … and sales in the days after … IF there is sufficient inventory. And, the inventory after Holiday might need to be different, or adjusted. The time to plan and negotiate inventory for Holiday and post holiday is right now.
When you think about it, most of these strategies are not unique to the Holiday season. They are fundamentals that can be applied to Back-to-School, or any other season. Given the tremendous seasonal spike in Holiday sales in such a compressed period, executing these fundamentals become the “difference makers”. They are so fundamental to both Holiday sales and profitability, that the best retailers already have planning and systems in place by May.
The challenge with these 7 fundamentals is that they are not as simple as an ad, slogan or choice of product assortment. They require infrastructure and cross-functional execution, which in turn requires resources and time to develop operational competency and excellence.
Yes you are in trouble if you don’t already have these fundamentals in place for Holiday. Without these fundamentals you are only at risk for Holiday, but severely challenged to compete successfully in today’s Retail Jungle.
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