Quick wins to capitalise on the festive season

Put together festive hampers

Hampers are big business, especially during the festive season when consumers want to indulge and treat their loved ones to something truly special.

As Mark Gallagher, CEO of DukesHill Ham Ltd, explained, “During the festive period our hamper range doubles in size. Gifting is a key occasion at this time and what better gift than the gift of artisan fine food? We see demand increase from both consumers and corporates looking to share the joy of fine food with friends, family, colleagues and employees.”

Find out how to put together festive hampers to boost sales this Christmas here.

Create Christmas charcuterie displays

Help customers create stunning centrepieces with quality meats, courtesy of insights from Jessica Summer of Mouse & Grape and Andrew Shreeve of Cobble Lane Cured, including Jessica’s six tips for styling a Christmas charcuterie board.

Find out what to put on a Christmas charcuterie board here.

Keep your staff happy

While you might think the happiness of your staff won’t directly contribute to more sales, lowering their stress levels can make them feel more confident in the job and help tend to customers with more gusto. 

As Julia Kirby-Smith, project leader at Better Food Traders, put it, “Having the right team – good at the operations side but also selling and customer interface – is essential, especially at Christmas!”

Discover ways to lower staff stress levels here.

Check out the latest spending trends

Stay right up to date with consumers purchasing habits by reading up on the latest data on Christmas spending.

Despite some gloomy predictions, Despite this, Nick Carroll, category director of Mintel Retail Insights, says there are signs of a “well-timed recovery in confidence ahead of the big day”.

“Several weeks ahead of Christmas Day shoppers may be cautious about their spending intentions but, as history shows, once the festive feeling takes over, some caution is thrown to the wind. This should mean more opportunity for retailers this December compared to last year.”

Read about the trends for Christmas 2023 here.

Upsell cheese accompaniments

A great way to make some extra sales is to upsell accompaniments to Christmas cheese such as chutneys and crackers. 

As Mark Kacary, managing director at Norfolk Deli, suggested, “Create tasting notes to be displayed alongside the chutneys you want to promote/sell. Including details informing your customers what is in it, what it tastes like and what it would go well with takes away the guesswork for customers.”

Find out how else to get those crucial extra sales here. 

Stay one-day ahead

Christmas week will be absolutely manic, so getting ahead whenever you have a spare moment in the lead-up to the big day is important. 

According to Simon Jones, co-owner of Forest Deli, “If you have the space in the shop always try and be one day ahead, so all gifts and orders for the following day are all complete before going home. That really does take the pressure off for Christmas week, so you should be able to get a couple of hours of sleep a night!”

Click here for more tips and tricks from Simon Jones.

Create cheese gifts

When it comes to cheese gifts, indies need to be able to offer something truly special that their customers can’t get from the multiples.

As Fraser MacLellan, owner of The East London Cheeseboard, explained, “We always look for good matches when making gifts from cheese. So complementary crackers, chutney, etc. that enhance the tasting experience are important.”

Discover how to create simple cheesy gifts for last-minute gifts here.