15 last minute ways to maximise sales this Christmas (and New Year)

The final countdown is on, and there are now less than 20 days (and counting) until most of the UK sits down around the table for a turkey feast.

These are some of the busiest (and most profitable) days in food and drink retailing, when you probably won’t have time to stop and see the woods for the trees. But if you are able to step back for a little last-minute planning, you can sprinkle a little extra fairy dust on the occasion, making it more memorable for your customers, solidifying loyalty, and perhaps even gaining legions of new fans.

Here’s how…

1. Sample, sample, sample: It’s well known that offering shoppers samples and tastings more often than not will lead to a sale. Some retailers have remained shy in this respect since the pandemic, but they’re missing a trick. Now’s the time to ramp it up, positioning as many tasting opportunities as you can across your store, from pieces of cheese at the deli counter, to nibbles of turkey and pigs in blankets at the butchery, sips of wine, cocktails, spirits and beer, nibbles of cake and more. Where else in retail can customers try before they buy, after all?

2. Invite producers in: Even more compelling than sampling, is sampling with the person behind the product in store. Meeting makers, learning about their journey, their passion and the provenance of what they make is such an important part of the indie retailing experience. Get in touch with those cake makers, farmers, chutney stirrers, chocolatiers and put them front and centre.

3. Lean harder into social media: Just like tastings, you’ve got to ramp up your social media presence during December. Let people know what’s on offer, what’s special, what’s new, what’s great for gifting. Share favourite recipes. Spread the love.

4. Avoid ended up with leftover festive stock: There’s nothing more disheartening than opening the doors to the storeroom just after Christmas and Boxing Day, and finding boxes of themed food and drink. If you get deep into December and don’t think those well-intentioned items you bought in the summer will shift, it’s better to bundle them together into hampers, positioning them somewhere visible with clear pricing, rather than holding onto them until next year. There will always be customers who are lastminute.com with their gifting, and people travelling home for Christmas on the hunt for something to give to their parents/grandparents/aunts and uncles. You could provide them with the ideal solution.

5. Placement matters: You’ve got great Christmas products, at good prices – but have you thought about position? Pop smaller food and drink gifts like tins of biscuits, boxes of fudge, and bars of chocolate near the till for impulse purchasing. Labelling them as ‘stocking fillers’ to prompt buys is an easy device to implement too.

6. Companion merchandising: Increase basket spends by being clever with your displays. Tinned and dried chestnuts should be placed with other stuffings, perhaps with a recipe for use. Pop bowls of oranges, mulling spices, and dried fruit garnishes around the mulled wine. Put digestive biscuits and onion relishes with Stilton. Jars of brandy butter next to mince pies. Get people thinking about how they’ll be serving their food and drink this Christmas, and what you sell that can help them enhance the taste of the day.

7. Get savvy in the kitchen: If you’ve got a restaurant or cafe on site, make it your selling superpower. Use your Christmas chutneys, jams and pickles, booze, cheeses and seasonal veg in your cooking and bakes, and clearly denote on your menus what everything is, where to find it in store. You might even want to create a small additional retail area in the eatery, dedicated to selling a taste of what they’ve eaten for breakfast, lunch or afternoon tea.

8. Give customers an extra experience: It’s obviously too late in the day to plan a Santa’s grotto or themed festival, but there are little things you can do to boost footfall in the next few weeks. A huge target market is families, who are on the hunt for fun, Instagrammable activities to enjoy with their children. If you have space, how about setting up cupcake or cookie decorating activities, or a station where they can make ‘reindeer food’ to take home (pretzels, broken biscuits, chocolate chips and mallows), or even simple decorations? Be sure to promote heavily on social media – especially local Facebook groups.

9. Consider the ‘peak end rule’: In hospitality the ‘peak end rule’ is taken seriously by many business owners. Essentially, this school of thought believes consumers will look favourably upon an experience so long as there was a ‘peak’ in the middle, and they ended on a high. Just think of the thrill in a hotel of returning to your room and discovering a turndown service with chocolates on the pillow. Creating touchpoints that deliver small moments of joy really can elevate a visit during what is one of the most stressful shopping times of the year. Maybe have staff dressed up giving out small cups of mulled wine or apple juice along the line to the butchery or cheese counter while people wait. Create parcels of sweets, biscuits or cinnamon buttered popcorn to hand out to children. Pop a few chocolate coins into shopping bags as customers pay. They’ll remember, and it’ll make them want to come back to you.

10. Unleash the power of the cheese counter: Christmas IS cheese. For many many people, the Christmas cheeseboard is the highlight of the year. You’ll already be well into your orders and selling now, but remember there will be plenty who haven’t had the forethought to order in advance, or who want their cheese purchasing made super simple for them. Signpost in the counter your top Christmas cheese picks (perhaps special things you’ve bought in for the season, like drunken cheese or truffled Bries), and prepare a variety of ‘grab and go’ cheese boxes. Don’t forget to have samples on the counter at all times. We recommend popping them on crackers with a dollop of chutney or pickle, ensuring you have jars at the ready to cross sell.

11. Introduce a last-minute loyalty scheme: Encourage extra sales by printing off simple loyalty cards or slips whereby customers can enjoy a free gift or meaningful discount if they buy xx items in December. You could even lead them to buy a product from each ‘department’ during the month to qualify. It’s a good way to introduce them to parts of your shop they maybe don’t visit as often, and to get them thinking about what else they could buy with you rather than in a supermarket.

12. Provide twixmas inspiration: Twixmas – that period between Christmas and New Year’s Eve where you really don’t know what day it is – is a time for being lazy at home (unless you’re running a shop, of course). A lot of customers will want to be more hands off in the kitchen. Before you close the doors on Christmas Eve, be sure to spend a day or two sampling dishes made using some of your meal solutions. Break out the jars of Italian sauce and pasta, curry sauces, Mexican and Asian cooking kits, and demonstrate how they can easily transform those leftovers into something mouthwatering. Lead them to the freezer aisle as well, and to premium ready meals.

13. Fill the gap with something fun: On the subject of Twixmas, between watching reruns of Indiana Jones and Harry Potter and rummaging through the Boxing Day sales, shoppers will be on the lookout for low-key activities that get them out of the house. If you’re a farm shop with a walk on site, promote it for winter strolls, perhaps ending with a cup of cocoa and slice of cake. Or create an informal event that could become a regular Twixmas fixture for you – like a big turkey cook-off in the kitchen, serving turkey curry, or smoked pulled turkey buns in your restaurant, or perhaps laying on a big communal cheese feast. 

14. Don’t forget New Year’s Eve: More of us are entertaining at home and New Year’s Eve 2025 is expected to be a big one for home dinner parties. See the latest trends here. Think about prepping charcuterie and grazing platters and boxes, and position ideal products for ‘picky teas’ and parties together – olives and antipasti, breadsticks, gourmet crisps, canned and bottled cocktails and more.

15. Get your head around your 2026 plans: January always sees a big push on health and wellbeing. Key trends will continue to be functional ingredients, protein, clean labels, whole foods, fermented foods and anything vegan. Charge a member of staff with focusing their attentions on visual merchandising and positioning for these products so you can drive engagement from the get-go as we slip into January.