With the biggest trading season for retailers now well underway, PG Buzz caught up with Sarah Green, owner of Spots in Southwold on how she is gearing up for Christmas.
Christmas run up: “We are busy packing away all our summer seasonal stock – buckets, spades, wetsuits etc to make way for Christmas. We put out our Christmas charity packs and boxes early, but we held off with the Christmas singles until mid-October as we couldn’t bear to pack away all our lovely open cards!”
Adding extra sparkle: “Throughout the year we offer 10% off greeting cards with a My Southwold loyalty card. Last year we extended the offer to Christmas cards and as a result we saw an uplift in turnover in this category. We are repeating the offer again this year.”
Festive favourites: “The Woodmansterne charity packs and Advent calendars are selling really well. Customers seem to love the Christmas Advent cards, which they can’t get in the supermarkets. Boxes of Almanac (GBCC) cards seem to be popular too. On the gift side, eco-chic coolbags, backpacks and shopping bags are just flying out.”
Christmas crystal ball: “Unfortunately we feel pretty bleak about Christmas sales. People seem to send fewer cards each year, although offering the 10% discount does help drive sales.
In the toys and games sector we see a decline every year as we can’t compete with the internet. On the post office side of our business we see the amount of Amazon Collect orders piling up, which is very depressing. Instead we are concentrating on pick-up lines, stocking fillers, secret Santa type lines which people are likely to buy on impulse. Generally people will buy things under £10 when they see them to avoid P&P.”
Santa’s wish list: “A rent rise amnesty and a government rethink on business rates would definitely be top of my list.”
