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Consider this: Will this Holiday Season happen...
What a 90 days it will be!
Remember July and early August, when there was much optimism?
Then, the Delta variant surged.
But amidst all this is the resilience of retailers and shoppers alike.
The majority of people are vaccinated, and determined to put the pandemics behind them. Enough already, they're saying! We have people to see and family and friendships to celebrate. And they are shopping early. This could be fantastic!
This 2021 Holiday Season will be all about relationships. Your customers are counting on you to help them make this year special. All those new ways that you established during the pandemics to be connected with your customers? This is the time for them to shine! Use emails and texts and social media to keep your customers personally aware:
Your shoppers already know that this year is different. They know that inventories are tight, and there are fewer retailers to choose from. And they are shopping early! They likely won't be driven by Black Friday specials and early season discounts. They want special, and many are willing and able to pay for it. Indeed, it looks like 2021 will bring a Holiday Season like no other.
As we look around, we see a popular cost-saving and productivity-boosting tactic being instituted by many national retailers, shopping malls, and restaurants. They are open fewer hours.
This offers an opportunity for you to revisit your store hours and employee scheduling practices. Maybe it's time to consider some changes, if you haven't already.
Your customers have voted with their feet. Your goal is to see what patterns there are in their shopping visits. (This could be a fine project for a summer employee home from college.)
Start small; focus on , say, the last four weeks of data collected by your POS system. But this time, produce reports by the day of the week. Yep, seven columns of data. Wait till you see what it can reveal!
The savvy retailers know that now is the time to be putting the finishing touches on – wait for it – being ready for December 26! Yes, this unique time period between December 26 and New Year's Day is a tremendous make-or-break opportunity. Indeed, many retailers find they net more from this time than any earlier stretch of 6-10 days!
First, the many opportunities to reduce expenses "back to normal". Less advertising cost. Less staff. Fewer hours.
Since Labor Day in the US is the first Monday in September, this year it happens as late as possible. Labor Day will not be celebrated until next Monday, September 7. Most years, most folks would be perfectly happy to have August stretched out even longer. Ahh, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer, right?
And so, meanwhile, we regard Consumer Confidence as THE key indicator of consumer spending. Just last week, the Conference Board reported that Consumer confidence is at a six year low*. Ouch! But, was that a surprise to retailers? Not really. Most retailers are well along in coping with these challenges.
As we introduced previously, the New Normal for retailers is already here. It is a new "retail clock."
Of course, it is not just retailers who have been affected; the shoppers also have been adapting. But whereas retailers think in terms of seasons (weeks and months), the shoppers are adjusting their patterns at the daily and weekly level.
This Holiday season is bringing three big waves for retailers, in rapid succession. And each one requires a strikingly different management response.
Faced with the shipping delays (and surcharges), customers have turned to brick-and-mortar stores. The savvy retailers are ready for them.
Consider this retailer, whose sales over the last 4 weeks are down 12% compared to last year. Some retailers in this situation essentially freak out. But others know to keep asking questions. Before they decide what to do next to fix lagging sales, they want to know "Why?" So, here is one way to get to the numbers behind the numbers; to begin to know the "why" of your sales trends. All it takes is tapping into the data that's already in your POS system, and putting together a little summary tally sheet. Here's one example.
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