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The Two Phases That Drive Christmas Confectionery Sales
Every business knows to prepare themselves for Christmas when traditionally footfall and sales swell as shoppers prepare for the festivities. However, current retail trends mean we are seeing Christmas ranges creeping in sooner and sooner. This was particularly prominent in recent years as everyone became more conscious of their spending and setting out seasonal ranges earlier provided shoppers wider opportunities to prepare.
With this in mind, there are two important phases to consider when planning and designing your Christmas range. Understanding them and getting your approach right is foundational for a successful season that sees your festive confectionery sales grow. Here at Hancocks we’re always happy to share our expertise – which is why we’re going to not only outline those two important phases but also offer inspiration on what to stock and how to deal with any remaining festive lines.
The First Phase – Pre-November
In recent years, shoppers have hit the stores earlier for their Christmas supplies to spread the costs of the festive season2. This fast start is the first phase that retailers need to be prepared for. The majority of shoppers, 70% in fact, have already begun their Christmas shopping by November3. This highlights the impact that introducing festive stock early can have and that shoppers are receptive to buying seasonal stock early. This saw the share of seasonal stock sold grow 51.2%1, meaning you can expect to see noteworthy Christmas sales as early as September and October.
What you stock for this phase can help performance, too. You are unlikely to see the bulk of your festive sales in this phase but expect momentum to grow as excitement builds. Introduce your range with festive novelties and impulse favourites, as well as seasonal staples such as sharing tubs and advent calendars. As expected, advents are commonly the first festive items that shoppers hunt for, with the Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate Advent Calendar 90g unsurprisingly proving the most popular once again last year. Recently seasonal novelty stock – and self-eat festive novelty – has grown 19.6%1, highlighting the influence it has on sweet-toothed customers in kick-starting the season. Christmas is a time of sharing, so novelty sharing options are also an important asset, with variations of the Cadbury Mini Snow Balls and Puds resonating well with shoppers.
The Second Phase - Fanfare Finish
As November rolls around, your Christmas sales will enter into their second phase – the fanfare finish. With a mix of customers who have been spreading their shopping efforts and those who are just getting started, the Christmas crunch is inevitable. As it gets closer, business gets busier, so maintaining your supply of festive stock throughout the season is key. For more than a third of confectionery shoppers its seasonal treats are the motivation behind visiting the shops4 during the build-up to Christmas.
There is a lot of gift shopping at this stage of the season. To capitalise, make sure that you’re carrying sufficient stock of your best-selling lines to cope with the demand. Selection boxes have performed brilliantly for years – and sales grew 26% in 20221. Options like the Cadbury Santa Chocolate Selection are always popular and essential for any festive range, along with other favourites from brands such as Reese’s and Galaxy – whilst there are options for sweet lovers like sour Toxic Waste and beautifully chewy Skittles.
Whilst adding seasonal stock is essential this time of year, keeping evergreen stock in your range will also help to boost sales. New stock may grab the headlines, but sometimes you can’t beat tried and tested options. We’re talking about the kinds of lines that you’re familiar with already – fixtures of gifting ranges year-round like Lindt Lindor cartons, Cadbury Milk Tray, and Anthon Berg chocolate liqueurs. Of course, the new stock brings plenty of attention of its own, so striking a balance is key.
Reliable best-sellers are also important to keep on your shelves. Even though many of them are available year-round, they are still favoured by many and hold their own against newer lines that grab the headlines. Cadbury’s Milk Tray was the best-selling everyday brand last Christmas. But, as always, the newest lines do catch the eye of shoppers in store and can be the reason that draws them into your seasonal offering. For example, the brand new Toblerone Truffles Box makes a wonderful gift for anyone who appreciates the Swiss chocolate. Having only just been released, you know it will catch plenty of longing glances in store!
Using the Phases to Plan for Christmas
Understanding these phases alone is not enough to guarantee seasonal success – you need to use it to inform your strategy. Use the information to devise a plan of attack for each of your customer types and each phase of the season. From the early birds and impulse shoppers to those doing it all in one go – and of course, those leaving it to the last minute – each type of shopper will be looking for something different. Think back to previous years and look for patterns in shopping habits to make sure that you are prepared for each wave of customers from start to finish. Knowing your customers will significantly help you serve them better.
Christmas presents such a huge opportunity for businesses because it is the occasion that appeals to the broadest range of customers. With this in mind, it is best practice to utilise your online presence. Whether you serve shoppers in-store, online, or with an omnichannel approach, you can build excitement and raise awareness among your customers heading into Christmas.
When it comes to marketing your festive campaign, these simple steps can help to elevate your success:
Use social media to tease best-sellers, share offers, and drive traffic/footfall
Signpost your range in-store
Make any deals or promotions abundantly clear
As the season progresses, adjust your range to match your plan
The Post-festive Period
It goes without saying that in the best-case scenario, you would have sold out of all of your seasonal stock as the festive period comes to an end. However, we all know that things rarely go perfectly to plan. But fret not, there are options for retailers with excess stock after the festive period.
The obvious answer to draw in quick returns is to have a sale. Whether you have a flash festive sale or work excess Christmas stock into a New Year’s sale, sweet treats are as popular as ever – even if they do have Christmassy packaging!
Depending on what stock you have left over, there is the option to break it down and make gift boxes, hampers and other pre-packed formats. With chocolate bars, small bags of sweets, and individually wrapped treats, you can easily make lucky dip packs. By offering a range of sizes and price points, you can appeal to more shoppers. If you have the stock you can also offer themed mixes, too, which will only further the appeal across your range.
If the dates on items allow, there is no reason that you cannot look ahead in your calendar and repurpose surplus stock. For instance, any vegan stock can easily be re-focussed to red and pink stock is perfect for Valentine’s Day. But, of course, keep a close eye on the best before dates of any stock you repurpose!
Planning for Christmas with Hancocks
Coming once a year and a boost for retailers of all kinds, Christmas provides fantastic opportunities to increase sales performance and customer satisfaction. Whilst it is a period of the year that can easily seem manic, your plan to boost sales doesn’t have to be complicated. There have been signs over recent years that despite shoppers being more savvy with their festive spending, many key areas of seasonal sales have been showing growth. With knowledge of these two key phases and ensuring that you have the required stock throughout the period, seasonal sales can be simple to grow.
1 Nielsen, Indies & Symbols, Total Christmas, 20 weeks to we 24.12.22 vs YA.
2 Source: Statista Christmas Survey, 2017, Insites Consulting SnackChat Community Christmas Survey Dec ’22, Streetbees Deck the Halls How Shopping Habits are Evolving, October 2022.
3 Source: Insites Consulting SnackChat Community Christmas Survey Dec ’22.
4 Lumina Christmas 2022 in Convenience Stores – Lumina Intelligence Convenience Tracking Programme, 4 WE 08/01/2023.