It’s funny how quickly time passes. When you’re a kid, weeks seem to stretch, and a whole year is a massive amount of time. There’s some science to suggest that our perception of time alters as we age, so it’s no wonder that it’s already July, and the year feels like it has zipped past. And with the end of the year approaching, the holiday season comes with it. Christmas is usually a boom time for businesses, with Christmas wholesale suppliers in Australia doing a tidy turnover. But you might be wondering when exactly businesses start preparing for the holidays. This article will demystify this for you; you’ll be an expert by the end. Read on to learn more.
When is the Best Time to Prepare?
The crucial months for the holiday season are typically October through to December, with most customers beginning to think about and plan their holiday season in October. A savvy business will start preparing a touch before then, around August or September. This will depend on various factors, such as how much lead time a business needs to order stock for the holidays.
Businesses Need to Plan Ahead
Christmas is a massive time of year for both businesses and customers. Many people have a jam-packed social calendar – either hosting or attending a wide variety of events. There are work functions, family functions, school events and more. In addition to this, many people take from late December to mid-January off work, plan their holidays and shop for goods for this period. There is a massive demand for consumer goods, food and beverages at this time of year, and businesses need to plan adequately to meet demand.
Many customers begin their holiday preparation around September and look to purchase gifts for their friends and family in the lead-up to the big month. They also wait for Black Friday sales in the hope that they’ll snare some bargains. Search engines see massive growth in gift idea searching from late August to September.
If customers are getting ready for the holiday period, your business needs to also. You’ll need to order stock, ensure you have enough to meet demand, arrange pricing and discounts, and ensure your back-end infrastructure is set up to meet the influx of sales.
For instance, some businesses rely on seasonal labour to meet the Christmas demand. In particular, high school and university students often look for work during the holidays as they have time off and want to earn some spending money. If you have increased workloads and demand, employing some Christmas casuals from October through to the silly season can be worth employing.
Plan for Other Holiday Periods
While you shouldn’t start planning for the Christmas break in January, you should consider other holiday periods when planning your business activities for the year. For instance, Valentine’s Day in February is a big event for specific industries, such as floristry, hospitality and gift sellers. If you’re in any of these businesses, it’s probably a more significant period than Christmas, and you must plan accordingly.
Another holiday you can plan for is April Fool’s Day. In recent times, this is a chance for brands to get a bit silly with goofy social media jokes and advertisements. If you have a decent online following, you can create a few jokes or spoofs to drive traffic to your pages and create brand trust and loyalty.
Easter is another holiday period to consider and plan for, as people tend to take some time off over Easter, although a touch less than the big summer holidays. People often dine out often during Easter and catch up with friends and family at cafes, restaurants and bars. So if your business is in hospitality, you may want to take advantage of the increased demand and plan for a more extensive turnover.
Should Your Business Acknowledge and Plan for Every Holiday?
This is a trickier question to answer. There are arguments for being inclusive and acknowledging every holiday or special day, such as Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Pride and New Year’s Eve. However, not all significant days will be relevant for your business. For instance, an Australian business may celebrate Australia Day, but its audience may be less interested in Pride, or vice versa. You need to know your target market, demographic information and your potential customer’s interests and passions.
If you sell gifts or greeting cards, you’d want to ramp things up for Mother’s and Father’s Day, as millions of people are actively seeking gifts for these events. However, a hospitality business may be more interested in preparing for public holidays such as Easter, Christmas or other public holidays when people have the time to eat out and enjoy each other’s company.
Allow for Staff Time Off
One final thing to note, which is essential, is that holiday periods are often when staff want time off work. If you employ people on a full or part-time basis, they are entitled to leave if they’ve accrued it. However, if the business deems it necessary, it can deny leave requests for busy, seasonal periods. Working with your staff is essential to determine who can take time off and when. Some businesses negotiate between their teams – where one person has time off one year and another the year after, so the business needs are covered, but employees get much-needed and deserved time off too.
A Happy Holiday Summary
This helpful article has shared all about when businesses can start preparing for the holiday period and some other helpful information business owners should consider about acknowledging and planning for busy holiday periods.
Images: Supplied.
This is a sponsored article produced in partnership with Web Oracle.
