Christmas is coming

Think gifts and essential pet items.

…be ready to make the most of seasonal sales!

Turn to page 12 for some Christmas product inspiration!

It is the most important season for almost every retailer

— and if you want to ensure Christmas is great for your business, then it’s a good idea to start planning now.

According to the Bank of England, our spending habits change in the run up to the festive period and households spend on average almost a whopping £740 more in December, which is 29% more than in a typical month.

It was also reported that over three quarters of dog owners buy their pet a Christmas present with an average spend of just over £20 — and that’s just dogs! With the humanisation of pets, owners are striving to give their animals the best lives possible and treat them like a member of the family. So, it is no surprise that owners want to treat them for the festive season.

Here we share top tips to maximise your sales and make sure there’s the ringing of tills, as well as the bells, this Christmas time.

Plan ahead

You may be thinking ‘it’s too early for Christmas!’ — but it really isn’t. Many of the leading retailers will be well into their Christmas planning and will be about to launch festive products. Last year, supermarkets and department stores starting stocking their shelves with Christmas stuff in September.

While you may not want to get your festive stock out so soon, planning and preparation needs to start to make the most of seasonal sales. Thinking about the products you want to sell, the marketing messages you want to send, and how you can turn those festive buyers into regular customers will all be more successful if it is thought about now. Christmas is full of opportunities to do creative things and you’ll enjoying thinking outside the box!

Find the best Christmas products

From festive toys to turkey dinners, there are incredible Christmas pet products out there to capture the imagination of buyers. Manufacturers and wholesalers will be ready to go with Christmas orders so start looking to see what you can stock. When it comes to choosing, think about what is the festive product that will stand out from the rest? What were your best sellers last year? Have you got different types of products available from treats to toys, to different species? Think about what would grab your attention as a buyer.

Don’t forget humans either! Buyers will be looking for presents for pet lovers so are there ranges you could stock that would make great gifts for owners? From quirky signs and t-shirts, to equipment for life with a pet, these could be a huge hit with customers.

Stocking great Christmas products at the right price gives you the best chance to make those festive sales. There is really scope to make it fun!

It’s not just about gifts

While selling gifts for pets is an obvious way to make sales, don’t forget how core pet products have potential for increased sales. For example, Christmas is a busy time of year in most households and this can be stressful for pets. Using a pheromone diffuser for cats or dogs can really help pets enjoy Christmas more. Extolling the virtue of preparing pets for Christmas and ensuring they have the opportunity to get away from it and relax can also boost sales. Particularly for cats, and even dogs, a safe area with essential resources in is a great idea to help them escape if they need it — and you can provide the products they need.

Christmas is also an excuse people will use to replace those pet items they change fairly regularly — think of items such as dog leads, scratching posts, food and drinking bowls, and tunnels for small companions. Check your current ranges of these types of products and think how you can make your customers aware of these types of items.

With all the distractions of Christmas, it can also be a good idea to remind shoppers about ensuring they’re stocked up on those regular purchases such as pet food.

The right message

Christmas brings with it so many exciting ways to market your shop and your products. What messages do you want to land with your customers? As an independent retailer you want people to know you have great products, you’re a genuine pet lover and can offer advice, and that shopping local is supporting people who are part of their community. Mixing these messages and dripping them in over time gives them the best chance to land with your customers.

Think about your platforms where you will spread your message. In your store, on your social media channels, advertising in local publications, and by word of mouth are all effective ways to preach your gospel.

You can be creative with this too. You could run specifi c ‘Christmas shopper’ days or displays in store with discounts or product launches and demonstrations. Online you can promote products, ask for owners to share photos of their pets, use #shoplocal on posts, run competitions, and share advice. You could offer regular customers a Christmas discount or small gift as a thank you for shopping with you all year round, which is likely to lead to extra purchases.

It could be worth trying to extend your reach and awareness through creative ways. You could leafl et drop local residents to encourage them to shop local this Christmas, or even contact other local traders to offer a link up for the festive season, with an enticing offer? You could contact your local paper and offer to provide them with some top care tips they could use for a feature in return for promoting your store. Many local papers are in need of constant content so are open to receiving things they can publish, particularly if it has a local angle to it.

Think of your key messages, and then let your imagination run wild to come up with ways to engage people and get more shoppers through your door.

Tell your story

People connect with people. Telling your story helps shoppers know the face behind the business. It makes you more memorable, endearing, and human! Why not share online about your own pets, why you decided to open a pet shop, or how long you have been a part of the local community?

When people come into store, ask about their pets and share stories of your own. Those conversations in store can be your biggest sales tool. Taking the time can make customers feel valued and if they get to know you, they are likely to return because they will be more aware than ever that they are supporting a person, rather than big business.

It doesn’t harm to get staff asking about Christmas either! You could have a greeter at the front of the shop. Or why not ask staff to ask every customer if they are buying their pet something for Christmas? You can tell customers you’re trying to gauge how much stock to buy or whether it is something your customers would be interested in. Using conversations to encourage Christmas sales is a must!

Think digital

Reports quote different fi gures, but it is widely accepted that the majority of Christmas shopping is now done online. While this means independent stores are increasingly competing with online giants such as Amazon, it still brings a host of opportunities.

You could offer a digital offering or even a local delivery service. Adding e-commerce to the website can be achieved for relatively low cost and can be a long-term addition to your business. A Christmas convenience delivery service just for the festive period could be popular too and used as a marketing tool.

If offering the benefi ts of digital buying is not possible, then it makes your offering and marketing much clearer. You want footfall to the shop and your messages are about supporting local. There are many campaigns to help support the high street with many towns offering free parking or Christmas shopping days. Embracing these and focusing efforts on increasing footfall can make it more likely to get results. That’s why it’s important to think digital — if you’re not offering it, you can plan for how to compete against it.

A date for the diary — Black Friday is set for 25th November this year and provides a welcome opportunity for you to reach out to customers. Whether you offer digital buying or not, it’s a key spending day and you can plan deals to entice customers.

Retaining customers

So, you’ve had a great boost to Christmas sales and seen new customers come through the door? How do you convert those people into regulars?

Give some thought to putting in place mechanisms of how you can retain those buyers now. You could look to implement loyalty cards, repeat purchase discounts, sign up to marketing emails, push for recommendations from customers, or encouraging people to follow you on social media.

Target those repeat sales and push your messages to fi rsttime customers. Again, use those conversations in store to connect with people. There is no customer better than the one you’ve got already got! And a happy customer is likely to recommend you to other people too.

The festive season would not be complete without an exciting Christmas range from Rosewood Pet Products. The 2022 selection is truly all encompassing, ensuring your customers can select their perfect Christmas gift for dogs, cats, rabbits and other small animals. The collection is the one and only place to fi nd your complete Christmas range to help them celebrate with all their furry friends.

The range brings newness to the festive season with innovation, unique product features and details; plus, some Christmas cuteness to bring Christmas joy to customers and pets alike!

This year’s range covers everything from real meat treats to plush toys, gnaws and carrot cottages, snuffl e mats, pyjamas and bow ties. Due to the incredible success of the 2021 range, Rosewood have stepped it up a level for 2022 with a great selection of high-quality festive products.

The Cupid & Comet range consists of real meat selection boxes and letterbox dog treat gift sets; plus, other tasty treats, as well as plush and ball toys and a Winter Woodland Bundle consisting of a bed, bone toy and blanket! Doggy dress-up also features with Reversible Quilted Gilets and Grey Gingham Pyjamas - ready for the family picture! Further product highlights include a g ghts include a Multi-textured Snoop Snowman and a Maxi Elton Elephant dog toy which matches the Gingham Pyjamas.

Let’s not forget our feline friends with a range of meaty treats, advent calendars and treat cushions gift box. For playtime the range includes the Reindeer Cardboard Scratcher, Fa La La Cat Scratcher and fantastic plush toys such as the Caulifl ower Cheese Duo and Catnip Sweethearts.

Our small animal friends can also have their stockings fi lled - with a variety of new festive gnaws, activity toys and a Tree Snuffl e Forage Mat which is also suitable for cats and smaller dogs. Rabbits and rodents can also get involved in the festivities with a choice of Naturals branded treat lines including a 12 days of Christmas Gift ‘n’ Forage and even their very own Pass the Parcel!

The bedding range for 2022 has been introduced to bring a lifestyle collection to the comprehensive Rosewood range. It has been developed specifi cally to enable retailers to sell during and after the festive period, with products that are transitional across seasons. The products within the collection feature a seasonal winter wonderland print, high quality materials and soft faux- furs. This collection has been specifi cally designed to fi t into interior fashion trends throughout the year.

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