Summer Checklist: How to Prepare for Peak Retail Christmas Sales

This is your summer checklist on how to prepare for the peak retail Christmas sales season. It will be your ultimate guide on how to prepare for the peak Christmas retail sales and the essential actions to take now to get ready for the festive season.

These actions are what to do during the summer to get ready for your highest sales period in retail which is Christmas, also known as the golden quarter. 

You’re in the right place if:

• You’re ready to move from being overwhelmed to making a plan this Christmas.
• You want to make the most of the festive season and benefit from the increased sales at this time.

When you don’t prepare for peak retail Christmas sales

• You get overwhelmed by the lack of organisation and planning.
• You desperately need clarity and a clear plan rather than winging it.

What you can do now to prepare for peak retail Christmas sales:

• Use the summer checklist below to get you started.
• Brain dump everything you need AND want to do.
• Prioritise your list and create an action plan.
• Schedule in time to tick each action off. 

Let’s avoid you feeling:

• Burnt out as you’re overwhelmed and without a plan. 
• Not showing up, asking for the sale and making the most of this busy time.
• Not having a focus in your products or marketing plan

= Which will mean you won’t increase your sales and Christmas will be really hard work.

So let’s change that!

Summer Checklist: How to prepare for peak retail Christmas sales:

Analyse last year’s sales.

• Review sales data from the previous year, especially the Q4 Christmas period, to identify bestsellers, trends and peak selling periods.
• Analyse customer feedback and requests and use this in your data. 

Develop any new products.

• Use the sales analysis, identify any gaps in your product line and emerging trends in the market that could be used to develop new products.
• Plan the development process, including design, prototyping, testing, and final production.

Select your key hero products.

• Determine which products are your best sellers or have the potential to drive significant sales over the Christmas period. 
• Focus marketing efforts on these hero products, creating compelling campaigns that highlight their unique features and benefits.
• Ensure you have sufficient inventory of these key products to meet anticipated demand.

Check when you need to order and any expected delays with your stock, materials or packaging suppliers.

• Review lead times for all suppliers, including those for raw materials, finished goods and packaging.
• Communicate with suppliers to confirm availability and any potential delays that could impact your supply chain.
• Place orders early to account for longer lead times and avoid out-of-stock products during the peak Christmas sales period.

Contact press for Christmas features.

• Identify key media outlets, magazines, influencers, and bloggers that align with your brand and products.
• Create a press kit that includes high-quality images, product descriptions, and your brand story.
• Reach out to press contacts with personalised pitches and press releases to secure features in holiday gift guides and seasonal Christmas articles.

Upload new products to your website and marketplaces.

• Ensure all new products are listed on your website with detailed descriptions and high-quality images.
• Optimise product listings for search engines by including relevant keywords and phrases.
• List new products on additional marketplaces such as Etsy and notonthehighstreet.com to increase your sales channels and reach a wider audience.

Tag products into key categories on your site and marketplaces.

• Organise your products into relevant categories to improve navigation and help customers find what they’re looking for quickly.
• Use collections, tags and filters to highlight key marketing attributes, such as bestsellers, new arrivals, trends, gifts and seasonal items.

For makers, now is a good time to make bulk stock of your product.

• Assess your production capacity and plan to increase output to meet expected demand during the peak Christmas sales period.
• Stockpile finished products to ensure you have sufficient inventory and can fulfill orders promptly.
• Consider outsourcing or hiring temporary staff to assist with production if needed.

Develop any Halloween products.

• Brainstorm and design Halloween-themed products that will appeal to your target audience.
• Plan the production and marketing of these items, ensuring they are ready for launch well before Halloween.

What are the key areas from this summer checklist to prepare for your peak retail Christmas sales?

Have you started planning for your peak Christmas retail sales yet? 

Plan Your Best Christmas Workshop:

Take away the pressure, guesswork and stress of preparing for the festive season with this workshop.

In one morning you’ll learn how to review last year, what your Christmas products will be, set sales targets and create a marketing plan. That includes Black Friday (whether you choose to take part or not) as well as how to prepare yourself and your business for peak sales.

This step-by-step, action-taking workshop will mean you will leave with a plan you are confident in, completed in under two hours.

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