CHRISTMAS 2021

SEASONAL SALES: DCS

AND THE PRIZE FOR EARLIEST MENTION OF CHRISTMAS 2021 GOES TO...

RETAILERS ARE USED TO PLANNING MONTHS AHEAD ON MAJOR SEASONAL EVENTS, BUT LEADINGDISTRIBUTOR DCS HAS WON THE PRIZE FOR BEING THE FIRST MAJOR COMPANY TO START TALKINGABOUT CHRISTMAS 2021!

Local retailers are used to living out of sync with the ‘real world’, planning for Easter before we’ve even got the festive period out of the way, but a special mention must go to leading distributor DCS Group for its release this week discussing... Christmas 2021.

With most retailers struggling to plan next week, never mind 11 months away – thanks to Covid, Brexit and all manner of other challenges – DCS has already kicked off a campaign to help wholesalers and retailers drive more Christmas gift sales in the lead up to the 2021 festive period.

DCS is the UK’s leading distributor of household, health, beauty, baby, and healthier snacking brands. Brand partners include: P&G, Unilever, Colgate, SC Johnson, PZ Cussons, Johnson & Johnson, Danone, Graze and Grenade.

The DCS Christmas Gifting webinar took place over two days on 26 and 27 January with guest speaker Sarah Ward, MD of the British Allied Trades Federation, kicking the session off. A number of major brands working with DCS including P&G, Unilever, Beiersdorf, Colgate, T2 and Childs Farm took advantage of dedicated webinar sessions to showcase their 2021 gifting products directly to wholesalers and retailers.

The Christmas Gifting interactive sales meeting has been a key event in the DCS Group calendar for many years, but this is the first time it has been held via a video conference. The webinar was attended by 36 DCS wholesaler and retailer customers, with the remote webinar format proving convenient for busy customers to attend.

Matt Stanton, Head of Category and Insight at DCS Group, said: “It has been fantastic to see so many of our valued partners joining us to kick off the 2021 campaign. The Q4 festive period is such an important time for businesses that it is crucial we start early and help our wholesaler and retailer customers get a head start.”

Content presented during the event included insight into the latest retail and gifting trends, Christmas shopping habits, and detailed overviews of each brand’s 2021 gifting strategies and products. In her opening address, Ward explained that early execution of in-store gifting plans is more important than ever.

“We saw shoppers starting their Christmas shopping earlier than usual in 2020,” she said. “Retailers who launched their in-store activation early were able to capitalise whereas those starting later were negatively impacted. The presence of gifts in-store triggers the Christmas shopping behaviour in shoppers,” she said. “Whilst there is still uncertainty about the future, the best way for wholesalers and retailers to plan is to treat the occasion as business-as-usual.”