No sooner hasd last year’s Christmas been wrapped up and the January Sale done and dusted, than thoughts start turning to the next round of Yuletide fun.

But, in the flurry of activity, crucial steps can often be overlooked as pressure mounts and retailers grow accustomed to the monotony of year in, year out in-store preparations. In this 10-point plan, Charlotte Dennis-Jones seeks advice from retailers and store operations experts on how to ensure the busiest time of year runs smoothly for head office, store staff and customers alike

1 THINK ABOUT STORE LAYOUT
Retailers tend to take store layout for granted when it comes to peak trading. Many assume that by piling it high and bulk displaying lots of stock, customers will instantly find what they are looking for.

In reality, it’s not that simple. Itim Consulting director Simon Puryer says: “Ensure there is still space for people to navigate the store easily and that there is plenty of room for queues to form. If you consider the layout of the store from the customers’ perspective, you should have a store that will be focused on peak trading and cater for even the most demanding shoppers.”

An effective queue management system is vital, he says. Signage also needs to be considered. “Does additional signage need to be displayed to direct customers to the relevant stock locations? And think about the physical location of stock. Does it allow for cross-selling of products, such as bottle bags with wine?”

Also, consider how often the layout will change during the Christmas run-up as stock sells through and preparations for the January Sale begin in earnest.

2 SET COMMERCIAL TARGETS AND MOTIVATE STAFF
Reminding staff of the financial importance of this time of year can never do any harm. Blackwell commercial director Sue Townsend advises setting commercial targets and encouraging staff.

“Review your Christmas key performance indicators. These should always include total sales and departmental sales, but be creative,” she says.

“Look at average transaction value, individual lines or staff productivity. Break them down into challenging but attainable targets and make them the focus of your Christmas briefing and subsequent daily briefing sessions.

“By communicating these to all team members and by setting daily and weekly performance goals you will encourage ownership and accountability of the targets.”

However, providing a motivator to spur on staff so they want to achieve is key, says Townsend. “This could be a combination of small rewards up to a big prize, such as a holiday or cash reward,” she explains. “Celebrate success.”

3 RAISE SECURITY AWARENESS
Security during the festive rush is even more challenging than normal. Shoplifting incidents are more widespread – not helped by enticingly merchandised Christmas displays and the sheer volume of traffic coming into the store, which makes monitoring what is going on even more difficult.

Incidents of collusion with shopfloor staff also rise dramatically, particularly because of the temp influx.

Perpetuity Research and Consultancy International director Martin Gill says making more effort to ensure all staff security are aware of the increased risk of theft will minimise this risk. “The more you create a culture of honesty, the more difficult collusion will be,” he says. “Security is tough at this time of year and it’s about having a clear strategy in place in advance and making sure all staff are aware of it.”

Gill also suggests tightening the vetting process for new recruits. “People are very busy and they’re recruiting at short notice, so often the necessary checks have not been carried out,” he says.

4 MONITOR INFORMATION FLOW
Good quality, succinct communication between head office and stores is always essential, but even more so at Christmas because of the sheer volume of information that needs to be absorbed. This is one area where head office can really help ease the burden on their store colleagues.

Hurried or confusing pieces of communication can distract them from the multitude of jobs on the shopfloor. Furthermore, look at the quantity of information that is being sent out.

Mamas & Papas retail commercial manager Colleen Draper says: “It is crucial to control both the volume and content of communication going out to stores, sense-check all communication going out from mid-November and identify any regular compliance items that could be put on hold until the new year.”

However, one piece of communication that is always welcomed by store staff is a note from the retail director on last week’s sales to keep them informed and, hopefully, act as a motivator, she adds.

5 DEVELOP A STRATEGIC MARKETING PLAN
Start promoting Christmas offers early. This doesn’t mean overdoing the festive decorations or creating elaborate snowy window displays while it’s still summer. However, raising awareness of this season’s Christmas products in plenty of time will help retailers keep ahead of the competition. Some people start shopping for Christmas months in advance, but even if they don’t, early inspiration is likely to make them return to buy at a later date.

Disney Store’s Christmas catalogue arrived in store last week, providing shoppers with plenty of time to start thinking about Christmas gifts. Whenever the in-store marketing begins, it is also important to tie it into promotions on the web site, because so many customers will carry out initial research online.

Disney European marketing director Joanne Webb says: “We also offer a great online site that showcases additional products that complements our in-store ranges, such as the giant plush [soft toys] and ride-on cars that are difficult to carry and personalised products for that extra special touch.”

6 KEEP A COMMERCIAL DIARY
Christmas may come around quickly, but the chances are that store staff will swiftly forget exactly what happened last year unless they recorded it properly. Having a clear diary will mean that, year on year, the busy Christmas period becomes better organised and potentially more lucrative.

Envision Retail managing director Jason Kemp says: “One of the most valuable commercial tools that is overlooked by eight out of the 10 store managers we work with is keeping a commercial diary. Being able to look back at the events that took the operation by surprise the previous year is the first critical step in ensuring that they don’t occur again.”

Whether it is an observation that seasonal recruitment started two weeks late or the store ran out of turkeys three days early, any one of these recorded incidents would completely change the planning and effectiveness of the peak trading operation the next year. And, adds Kemp: “They also help to explain why sales figures might be out of line with last year – always useful as a defence, should you need it.”

7 DON’T FORGET YOUR STAFF
At Christmas, there’s an understandable temptation for some retailers to focus more on their customers and avoiding out-of-stocks than concentrate on their staff. But it’s particularly important to strike a balance, says Lighthouse Consulting director James Edsberg.

Ensuring staff needs are not overlooked will also help decrease the likelihood of less-than-perfect customer service as employees are bombarded with a host of queries about anything from gift advice and returns to wrapping.

“Staff get particularly stressed at Christmas,” adds Edsberg. “Research shows that customer service mistakes made at Christmas are rarely forgotten, so to minimise them, think through the likely bottlenecks.”

He advises keeping an eye on temperature and air conditioning to minimise discomfort and respecting staff breaks, even though the store is at its busiest at this time of year. Losing sight of taking care of your staff means “you may have more of a retail hangover than you thought, come January”, says Edsberg.

8 DON’T LOSE FOCUS ON RECRUITMENT
Having the right people in the right place at the right time is crucial. For that reason, it’s never too early to start recruiting temporary staff.

Comet retail operations director Mike Rooney says it starts recruiting in September and October and looks for people with talent and great personality. “We need people who can talk to our customers and excite them about the products we sell,” he says.

All Comet’s shopfloor staff who are recruited for this time of year go through an intense induction programme designed to give them essential product knowledge. This is done through both e-learning and one-to-one coaching on the shopfloor.

“Continued training and support ensures that peak colleagues feel valued and a key part of our team,” says Rooney. “As well as recruiting the right people, it is vital that we match our customer footfall trends to our deployment, which we make a key focus. This ensures we always have the right number of trained staff on hand in our stores to make shopping speedy and convenient for our customers.”

9 STRESS THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER SERVICE
John Lewis director of selling operations Nat Wakely says the service offer must exceed customer expectations. “This is key for us this Christmas, because with thousands of new product lines we need to ensure our teams are well briefed to match our customers’ gift expectations. It is vital we make Christmas hassle-free and inspirational, to suit both the time-pressed and those who need a fresh idea,” he says.

Qaalfa Dibeehi, vice-president of customer experience consultancy Beyond Philosophy, says bad experiences can destroy value for a business. If customers are to buy goods from you that they could get elsewhere, they need a reason to shop there. He advises giving staff “empathy training” and advice on dealing with common festive scenarios, such as out-of-stocks or long queues. Operational issues will arise, but it’s how you deal with them that’s important.

“You are unlikely to eliminate any negative emotions from customers, but by de-emphasising them you will impress customers and that translates into them giving you more of their time and money,” says Dibeehi.

10 STICK TO THE PLAN
Store staff must be made aware of the importance of adhering to plans set by central teams. Preparation for Christmas starts months in advance for a reason and head office staff need to be confident that their plans are being carried out on the shopfloor.

It is vital to be clear about what the plans are and why it can be detrimental to both parties if they are implemented ad hoc or – even worse – ignored, which can be tempting given the amount that store staff have to do. To help colleagues keep to head office plans though, ensure that all information is succinct (see point four).

Woolworths in-store brand communications manager Jill Martin says: “At big retailers, a huge amount of manpower, planning and intelligence goes into providing stores with Christmas set-up plans.

“Central teams will then flow product and support into stores based on these plans. If the plan is followed closely, stores will reduce future problems and give themselves the best chance of a successful Christmas.”

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