The International Jewellery Fair has come and gone, you’ve bought your ‘wish list’ of stock for the coming season and summer is just around the corner. And as the countdown to Christmas kicks off, the next quarter is likely to make or break your sales forecast for the year. As every retailer’s attention turns to the crucial festive period, there are five key areas that store owners should be focusing on.
PEOPLE POWER
A strong team makes for a strong store – how you manage your staff in the lead-up to Christmas will make or break your festive season sales. Before you begin planning your staff roster for December, decide on your store opening hours.
Caroline Johnson, director of human resources management consultants AsOne Solutions, suggests looking to previous years as a guide for December opening and closing hours. “Past trends are certainly a great starting point to review,” she says. “If you are in a mall, the centre management will have reports on foot traffic results from the prior years.”
Keep in mind that footfall and opening hour restrictions will inevitably be dictated by your location. “The location, whether your store is street-frontage or mall-based, will drive the individual business need for extra staff,” Johnson adds.
Once you have an idea of what hours you should, and can, stay open over the Christmas month, take a look at your staff roster from last December. Darren Bourke, founder of small business consultants Business Influence, says, “Look at your roster and turnover for the same day, same week, same month last year, then adjust it for any changes to market conditions since last Christmas.”
Johnson also points out that one major variable from year to year is the day that Christmas falls on. “The day Christmas falls should make all the difference in your planning,” she says. Because Christmas Day is a Saturday this year, she advises retailers to ensure they have an appropriate number of staff in store on the Thursday and Friday nights immediately preceding the big day.
Before hiring new Christmas casuals to cover the peak foot traffic days, do a thorough reference-check on potential applicants and ensure that they are dedicated to the job. Bourke advises against hiring casuals that work more than 10 to 15 km from your store, or who might struggle to get in at short notice because they don’t have access to a car.
You should also consider providing incentives for your staff over the Christmas period – more footfall means more sales, more work and ultimately, more stress. Bourke suggests, on top of the traditional bonus, introducing a “refer an employee” scheme for staff to show appreciation for other competent staff members. “The reward could be drinks, dinner or a gift,” he explains.
Monetary rewards are always popular, as Johnson attests. “Everyone appreciates extra cash at this time of the year, so for those that contribute to your bottom line, contribute to theirs,” she advises. “Include a bonus offer that the team knows about, with individual targets linked to a team outcome as a whole.”
Incentives can also include offering snacks and drinks during shifts, to encourage staff to remain in the store during peak footfall hours – such as lunchtime. Johnson says, “One key thing is to ensure all personnel are on-hand at peak times… provide lunch for your staff.”
Last but not least, don’t forget to look after yourself. The spike in trading that Christmas brings can be stressful, and your attitude and mindset over this period will have a noticeable impact on staff.
MANAGE YOUR STOCK WISELY
Inventory control is crucial in the lead-up to the Christmas period, when over- and under-stocking can have dire consequences for your annual figures. David Brown, president of the Edge Retail Academy, suggests that retailers look at past sales trends and then re-order accordingly. “Many retailers assume that they need to have all their stock at the beginning of Christmas, but that isn’t necessarily the case if they re-order fast-sellers daily,” he says.
Brown believes that while it is prudent to be prepared, retailers should avoid throwing all their money into Christmas stock too early, because it won’t provide an immediate return. Instead, retailers should aim to be more flexible with their orders over this period, looking at each item individually on a day-to-day basis.
“If they are good re-orders, then check last year’s sales to discover what percentage of Christmas budget was reached by the 10th, 15th and 20th of December,” he explains. This way you can look at sales trends before committing to extra stock of any one item.
“For example, if you are re-ordering daily and you know that 30 per cent of your sales are done by the 15th, then you can assume that if any three of an item has sold during December, you may need another six by the 25th,” Brown says.
“You can review sales again by the 20th to see if this trend is ongoing,” he adds. “Keep in mind that 75 per cent of sales comes from just 10 to 20 per cent of stock, so managing this and re-ordering when sold is critical.”
If, despite careful forecasts, you do end up re-ordering and you have excess stock taking up valuable space after Christmas, you always have the option to run a Boxing Day Sale. Whether or not you choose to go down this route could depend on your location – in some instances, Brown says retailers may lose out if they don’t participate.
“If you’re in a major location with strong competition, you probably need to join in or you’ll see little business,” he warns. “However, smaller locations could perhaps avoid doing this.”
GIFT TRENDS FOR CHRISTMAS 2010
Once you’ve established a plan for keeping Christmas inventory at the right levels, you need to think about what you are actually going to order. While some items make for popular stocking-fillers year after year, there will always be a few stand-out gift and fashion trends each Christmas that should inform your stock-purchasing decisions.
Stylist and fashion editor for Pop Magazine Jana Bartolo suggests that stackable jewellery with a rebellious, grungy look will be a popular gift this Christmas. “Through winter we have seen a lot of stacked bangles, heavy metals, statement jewels and industrial tailored looks,” she says.
Depending on your store, consider keeping some edgy statement pieces in stock, such as black diamond jewellery or vintage-look, blackened sterling silver pendants.
“Think chunky chains and stones – shorter necklaces that can be layered will make for a great stocking-filler this year, along with charms that can be added to chains and bracelets,” says Susan Conterno, a Melbourne-based fashion stylist and image consultant.
Conterno advises jewellery retailers to stock items that will complement this festive season’s biggest fashion trend: military. Military is still really big, it’s all about khaki and army green,” she says, adding “a touch of tribal worn in a futuristic way is another important trend in jewellery this year”.
Bartolo also forecasts that warmer metals will be in fashion this summer, balancing out the vibrant kaleidoscopic garments seen on international catwalks. “With combinations of pop culture referencing – in juicy, warmer colours – this look will be combined with statement and clashing jewellery accessories,” she says. “A mix of softer-coloured metals such as rose and yellow golds capitalise on a summer trend without dulling down the look.”
GET THE LOOK
Increased footfall doesn’t necessarily mean more business. Your window displays and in-store environment will have a huge effect on how many people you lure into the store, how long they spend and whether or not they buy. Now is the time to start thinking about festive visual merchandising.
Lisa Lubar, product and business development manager at visual merchandising firm Chas Clarkson, says that the standard red and green combination is always a safe choice for retailers.
“The traditional Christmas colour palette of red, green and gold is hard to beat. However, saying that, it is important to create the right mood that reflects your business and merchandise,” she explains. “If you are a more modern jeweller or have a young customer base, you may want to be more adventurous and contemporary in your decorations.”
Image stylist Natalie Coulter from Desource even suggests channeling summer’s military look through a decor colour palette for Christmas. “ It can be fun to tie in the colour of the season in some way – army green is a big colour this season, so maybe add a touch of that to your metallics,” she suggests.