Happy Holidays in June: Get ready with our Q4 Checklist
Happy Holidays in June: Get ready with our Q4 Checklist
Temperatures are heating up, so of course that means it’s time to start thinking about holiday. Yes, really!
In retail, the earlier you start planning for the holiday season, the more set up for success you’ll be. (Sorry, procrastinators—but waiting on this one could drastically harm your business!)
For most product-based businesses, sourcing, manufacturing, and shipping take a long time, so holiday inventory needs must be considered far in advance. In fact, for many businesses, planning even six months ahead can leave you in a crunch! Many of our beauty clients, for example, deal with lead-times of 12+ months for the containers their products come in (i.e. glass pump bottles, lip gloss tubes, and shadow or blush pallets). If these beauty clients had waited until now to plan for their holiday 2024 sales, they’d be in major trouble.
But luckily, these clients have us to help them get sorted! With our expertly created assortment-review and sales-recapping processes, we help clients of all product types, navigate the rough terrain that comes with living in retail’s 3 different “time zones” at once: reviewing past assortment performance and learning from those successes and failures, recapping current sales performance for accuracy and adjusting to future forecasts, and utilizing the past and present to strategically plan for the future.
If you don’t have a recap process or assortment review process in place yet, now is the time to start. Book a consultation today to learn how. Not sure you need us? Here’s a checklist of steps you should take ahead of holiday—and if this has you feeling behind or overwhelmed with how to start, it’s time to call us.
Your Holiday Prep Checklist: How does your business measure on the readiness scale?
Review current sales trends and performance
Especially for a key timeframe like holiday, you want the right amount of inventory, in the right place, at the right time.
If you don’t have enough product on-hand, you can’t achieve your sales goal. But on the flipside, if you have too much, you’ll be dealing with wasted costs and excess inventory.
Validating your current forecast will give you the best indication of how accurate your future forecast will be. Ideally, you’ll be able to zoom in on similar items being featured during holiday to get an even clearer picture—double checking now will save you future headaches.
TEST, TEST, TEST!
There are a lot of variables that can come into play during the holiday season, which is why it’s important to prepare for any and everything. Being able to test different products, promotions, and marketing strategies ahead of November will lessen the potential for things going wrong. Here’s how:
>> Test sales velocity:
If possible, get a small amount of your actual holiday product ahead of time to get an initial read on customer interest. Even an abbreviated sales read during a different season can help validate sales forecasts and inventory levels.
>> A/B test your promo strategy:
In the months leading up to holiday, try a variety of sales such as percentage off, Buy One Get One, and gift with purchase to see what gets the most traction among customers. If possible, test this promo strategy on like items or actual holiday items. This will provide insight into which promotion will be the most compelling—and you can adjust your sales forecast and inventory to match.
>> Test your marketing strategy:
While this isn’t our specific area of expertise (though our friends at TAG marketing can help here if you need it), your highest sales performers will be closely tied to your marketing strategy, so figuring out what gets the most attention from your customers will be key to your holiday success.
What channels are most responsive to your brand and offers—Tiktok, Facebook, email, text, or another? The more you know about your customer’s engagement with your brand across your marketing channels, the more empowered you’ll be when making decisions about where to invest your dollars. It will also give you a read on sales velocity from these customers and what types of offers get them excited.
Align inventory planning with your marketing partners
Whether you have a team dedicated to marketing or you’re doing it all yourself, inventory and marketing need to be in lockstep. Connect regularly with your marketing team to ensure your buys align with where marketing is putting its efforts.
Knowing possible inventory levels and limitations will allow your marketing team to know how to best forecast sales results. On the other side, marketing teams need to provide an idea of sales forecast impact based on their market research and historical data to planners. In order for everyone to achieve their goals, these teams need to work together to feature the items customers will want the most—and make sure to have those items in stock!
Troubleshoot Excess Inventory Problems NOW
If you don’t already have an open-to-buy tool, this is your sign to download ours now! Every business has its limits, and cashflow is a very common one—if you have unproductive inventory on-hand now, it will clog up the pipeline and make it impossible to bring new, exciting items to customers during the holidays. Not only will you be challenged because you won’t have the capital to pay for new product, but also because you won’t have the space to store it because your old backstock has nowhere to go.
With an open-to-buy tool and help from the experts at Boon, you’ll be able to strategically manage your excess inventory so that you’ve got the physical and financial room for all your holiday stock.
Check in with your vendors about production timing
Inventory has to be available to ship in order to get customers to convert! It sounds obvious, but making sure the basics are covered will save you stress in the long run. Connect with your vendor or supplier to validate your item’s production to make sure everything is humming along at a pace that ensures timely delivery.
So, what’s next?
What we’ve listed above may sound like a lot, but it’s actually just the start!
There are a number of red flags to be on the lookout for that could derail your holiday sales—so reach out to the Boon team if you need a guiding light these next few months.
With decades of sales and inventory planning experience, our team can dig into the weeds to free you up to focus on bigger things, while ensuring you’re set up for your best holiday season yet. Let the holiday countdown begin!
