How to cope with Christmas rush and not let it overwhelm you!

Christmas will soon be upon us and many of us want to try and be organized for the festive period.  Admittedly this Christmas and the run up will no doubt be different as we are dealing with the Covid 19 pandemic.  Already I am finding in My bricks and mortar shop that customers are looking to get a year start on their Christmas shopping and have started their gift buying a lot earlier this year.  I wanted to give you a few tips to help you prepare and survive the Christmas shopping period.

Christmas rush specific stock

At this time of year I find that so many crafters become a bit blind sighted by Christmas and will let all of their stock become red and glittery.  Although Christmas is a major shopping event remember that customers are not only buying Christmas.

The most important thing to have in mind is that the majority of purchases are going to be gifts.  Customers are not likely to purchase a Christmas decoration for a gift to give for Christmas.  They are far more likely to purchase the gifts that you sell year round instead.

Don’t get me wrong customers will be looking for decorations but if you change all of you stock over to Christmas specific items you are potentially doing yourself out of sales.

Advertising

It is a good idea to advertise your products for Christmas, however you need to have a good think about when is the best time to advertise.  I have noticed after a few years of having my bricks and mortar gift shop that by December most customers have finished the majority of their gift shopping.  Therefore if you arrange for the majority of your advertising to be done in December you are likely to have already missed the bulk of your potential customers.

It is going to be most beneficial to you if you can catch your customers while they are looking for their gifts.  As a basic form of research you could look at when your friends and family are buying their gifts.  This will give you a better idea of when to launch any advertising or promotion.

Timing is key you want to undertake your promotion strategically.  You want to be early enough that your catch customers before they make a purchase but not so early that they aren’t ready to make a purchase. This doesn’t need to be a costly exercise a simple post on www.facebook.com can easily promote your items.

Personalisation

Christmas seems to be a popular time to get personalised items and decorations.  You need to be very realistic with your time frames.  It may be better to turn down an order than try to get a personalised item delivered in time for Christmas within a short time frame.

To give you an example I was contacted by a customer 4 days before Christmas.  They were interested in one of my cat Christmas stockings.  I only had one left in stock at that point.  They wanted two personalised stockings made and sent in time for Christmas.  This unfortunately couldn’t be done, I had to factor in the time of getting more raw materials, making them and posting them out.  Some customer requests just aren’t realistic and you will get less backlash from turning an order down compared to not delivering in time.

Stock levels

Bare in mind as you run into late November and December that many delivery services will experience an increase in demand which can have a knock on effect on delivery times.  As a seller you are going to be aware of this as you will ensure your items are posted out in plenty of time.  However you also need to remember that if you order any materials they could take longer to reach you.  This means you will need to try and anticipate sales and order any materials you run low on in plenty of time during the Christmas rush.

Self care

At this time of year many of us will work longer hours and will be juggling much larger to do lists.  It is really important that you take care of yourself and don’t push yourself too hard.  Make sure to get plenty of rest you are far more likely to make mistakes if you are tired.  Mistakes will only cost you more in the end.

If there are any other hints or tips that you have that would help during the Christmas rush please feel free to share them below.  What is your biggest life saver in the run up to Christmas that helps you keep your sanity.

If you are looking for more advise in preparing your business for Christmas have a look at www.claireyatfairycrafters.com/christmas-prepare-your-craft-business