Christmas is coming...

It's beginning to look a lot like...

I think I am not the only person to be shocked at the fact that I saw the first Christmas display up in a shop in early September!

However, this got me thinking, when is the best time to start preparing for Christmas?

The answer: About 2 months ago!

Retail is a funny old game, with lots of different advice and opinions on the right way of doing things. I am not claiming to be a retail expert but I have learned a few things in the past 12 years of working with retailers. One of those nuggets is that the earlier you think about your promotions the better they will perform.

So, what are you doing for your Christmas Promotions? Black Friday? Cyber Monday, which is now Cyber Week?

Are you using a multi-channel marketing strategy? Or are you just putting some tinsel up in your shop window?

Whatever you are planning to do, may I suggest you do it ASAP. It's definitely something to talk about with one of our sales guys, and if you are one of our customers, give our Account Management team a call to go through your options.

Among other things, we will talk about a Google Shopping Campaign. What stock do you have in good depth in the right sizes and colours? Those are the items to promote heavily. Have you thought about affiliate marketing and other brand building exercises? What is your newsletter campaign looking like? Is your Social Media campaign reflective of your newsletters and does your website also reflect the same promotions and imagery?