‘Tis the Holiday Season, Oh My!

Photo Credit: Claridge’s London

It currently feels like a little secret that only us in the know are in on. Those who are lucky enough to work behind the curtain of the magical holiday retail season know that now is the time to put the final polish on your holiday offers. 

Whilst the majority of our potential customers are thinking, ‘Oh it's getting a little cooler and the sun is setting a bit later’, us in the industry are already thinking Black Friday, GWPs and most importantly, the holiday bundle! 

We’re in constant dialogue with beauty brands and the last few months the conversation has shifted to how the holiday season can be used to generate sales, drive customer acquisition and reward loyalty. For smaller brands this time is a balancing act trying to keep inventory, discounts and consumer value all in check whilst understanding which channels to use in order to do so. 

Retail stores typically start to sell their holiday bundles and value sets around late August to early September. This means that brands should prepare their B2B retail holiday offers 12-18 months ahead of the following holiday season. Buyers will likely expect to preview a brand's holiday offers between 6-12 months ahead of the anticipated launch date window.  Sharing some of our top tips on how to plan out your holiday season! 

Don’t Skimp on Market Research 
Yes, you’ve done your market research already. You know your competitors, you know the retailers but research never stops. Do you know what everyone's previous holiday season offers were? Shop the competitor brand landscape. Take a peek at how other brands constructed their pricing, packaging, assortment and holiday themes. Use this information as a guide for your own creative bundles while looking for new ways for your holiday set to be unique. 

On the retailer side, familiarize yourself with the various promo strategies, themes and offers presented during the holiday season. Stay alert and take inventory of the different deals and offers that run on vendor websites and social channels the week of American Thanksgiving through early December that include Black Friday, Shop Local Saturday, Cyber Monday, Give Back Tuesday and the 12 Days of Christmas (and any other shopping day that is yet to be created!)

Don’t forget your D2C aspect of your business when preparing for the holiday season. Ask for opinions and feedback from your D2C customers. Leverage your social media network to engage with your brand's loyal community and make a fun survey for users to help guide what they want to see in your future holiday offers and ask what is their gifting budget for friends and family. 

Finally, just ask the people who will be selling your products what they want! Buyers and store associates can also provide helpful insights. Ask your vendor partners what kind of offers, pricing and packaging they would recommend for your brand to create in an effort to secure a successful holiday sell-thru. All of this is relevant no matter the size of your brand. 

What’s Your Value Proposition
Consumers expect more value over the holiday season. However, there’s always the opportunity to add value for your consumer and increase your average retail sale at the same time. You should be building sets around categorical levels, think "Gifts Under, $25.00, $50.00, $100.00". With your margins in mind, consider providing a discounted value on holiday sets that range from 10-25% off SRP throughout the season. Don’t do what’s not feasible. If someone really wants your product, they’re still going to be happy with a 15% or 20% discount. On top of your seasonal discounting consider launching a one-day flash sale offer or set at a steeper discount for Black Friday or Cyber Monday.  If you’re a smaller brand considering doing a longer sale, one potentially extending the whole Black Friday window. Smaller brands' sales often get overshadowed next to the larger brands! 

What’s the Assortment and How to Package
What should go into a bundle? You need to lead with your hero and not fall into the trap of curating a bundle from slower moving items in an effort to shift stock. Instead use the bundle as an opportunity for the consumer to discover a complementary product or something you’ve just released. 

How to package the bundle is another question and the answer depends on which market you’re selling in. Packaging matters and should be a reflection of your brand's core values with market considerations taken into account. Most importantly a good bundle shows what’s inside it, either through see through packaging or a clear image. It’s surprising how many bundles miss this easy to hit target. 

Some vendors will also build-out their own curated, multi-branded holiday sets for customers to shop during the season. If your brand is running lean on budget and doesn't have the cashflow or team bandwidth to execute in-house branded sets, check with your buying teams to see if you could include one of your products in the vendor's limited edition holiday sets or in-store events that often curate products across different categories and themes.  

Don’t Sell Yourself Short 
Make sure you have enough inventory to build your holiday sets without jeopardizing the sales of your regular single stock units. Establish the number of sets you wish to build across offers and quantities, but don't overcommit to building sets that will place your brand at high-risk for excess inventory returns at the end of the season. The process is intensive and don’t panic if you cannot meet the demands of retail or join every promotion.If you’re only able to do this at Xmas and Mothers day for example make sure to pick the season that aligns with your brand. 

What Story Are You Telling
Use the holiday season to reintroduce your hero products and new launches to customers while weaving in details around your founder story, brand values, identity and product benefits/claims.

Prepare engaging high-res assets that are easy to electronically share with vendors and repurpose on their own web and social platforms. Get into the spirit and curate a video trailer for your holiday offers that is 30-60 seconds long. It’s important to partner with your vendors ahead of the holiday season to secure special placement opportunities for your brand during the live season. See where they may be able to place your offer(s) on their social channels, newsletters, website, etc. Essentially the more they support, the more visibility they'll have. Also, who tells your story is important. Consider direct gifting influencers that align with your values.

There’s a lot to consider when going into the holiday season. It can be overwhelming for the first few years but once you understand the cycles and how best to position your products it can become routine. 

Please reach out to hello@constellarconsultancy.com if you're in need of extra strategic assistance to craft your custom holiday offers.