What are some of the issues you face as a business over the Christmas period?
Like most retailers, Christmas is a major contributor to our end of year results so we need to make sure we ace it. Getting our product mix right is critical and we work hard to make sure we don't run out of our main stock lines.
We always take on summer staff, so product and procedural training is important but finding time to train new staff is difficult when everyone is flat out. We tend to throw new staff into our gift wrapping stations and only unleash them on the general public when they know what they're talking about.
How do you make sure you get those stock and staff issues sorted?
We plan ahead. Luckily we've been doing this for long enough that we have plenty of sales data to analyse and we tend to make our Christmas buying decisions earlier each year. These days buying for Christmas starts around September, though we lock in some of the Champagne and other lines we import much earlier than that.
Staff-wise we try to employ the same students each summer. After a couple of seasons they're a real asset and it's always sad when we lose them to 'real' jobs later on.
What preparation are you doing in terms of your marketing given it's such a critical time of year for your sales?
Standing out from competitors is really important and we're more focussed on exclusive brands than we used to be - especially at Christmas time. Despite all the buzz about social media, email is still our primary marketing driver. We use Twitter and Facebook to reinforce our messages and direct people to our email database, and our Facebook spend will go up in November and December. We use Facebook for brand awareness and we work hard to convert Facebook fans to email subscribers.
We've also just launched a new website that works a lot better on mobile and tablet platforms. It's been a huge investment but it's been paying off since day one. We've seen a massive boost to our browser-to-buyer conversion rates since we launched it and we've also increased our basket size at checkout.
What are some of the changing consumer trends you've been seeing in your market over the Christmas period?
We've been selling wine online for 15 years now and it's amazing how buying patterns have changed. Clients shop later and the Christmas period is definitely more compressed these days. We're in an online market that's very deal driven, so that puts even more pressure on us to nail our buying mix. Some clients are loyal, but most shop around, and a lot of wine purchases are made as quick decisions.
What have you found the biggest challenge in terms of getting your planning right for handling the holidays?
In recent years our biggest issue has been targeting January sales and not letting it slip off our radar. We used to let it slide but definitely not anymore. We're primarily an online business, so the advent of mobile email has been a godsend for holiday-period sales, and we're already planning our sales programme for January.
Lastly, what's one key piece of advice you would you have for other small business owners about handing the holidays?
Take some time off! I take as much time as possible off in January - sometimes the whole month. If you have a good team it's the perfect time to give them some responsibility while you have a nice glass of wine at the bach.
Coming up in Your Business: What are some of the clever strategies small businesses have come up with to get maximum bang for a miniscule marketing buck? If you've got a good story to tell about how you've marketed your business on a shoestring, get in touch: nzhsmallbusiness@gmail.com
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