7 tips for small jewellery businesses to make more sales this christmas
We know everyone in product based businesses both dreads and relies on the fourth quarter of the year. Some put off thinking about it for as long as possible (the way many customers do) but planning and preparing early can make or break your festive period sales. Going into the new year with a successful Christmas is a sure fire way to invigorate your small business.
Every business will have a slightly different approach to Christmas prep but having worked in small product based business for essentially my whole career I have picked up some tried and tested tips to making the festive period both manageable and profitable for your jewellery brand.
1. Start earlier than you want to
It’s never too early to start thinking about Christmas. Do you know when your shipping deadlines are? Have you analysed last years sales data? The more time you give yourself to prepare the more manageable it will be. Talking about Christmas early is especially important when it comes to online businesses. It can take up to 6 weeks for search engines like Google to recognise your content. So if you wait until December to write a blog about gifting or add Christmas gifts to your home page you may miss out completely.
2. Know your customers
How do they shop and where do they shop? To create and build a relationship that ends in a sale or a referral you have to be where your ideal customers are. Be it on Instagram, Pinterest or a craft fair in real life. You need to know you are in the right place to be seen by the right people for your brand.
3. Leverage yourself & your story
Making sales these days is difficult. There is more competition than ever and customers have a little less money in their pockets to spend. However you know your audience and you know what makes them tick. They don’t want to gift ‘stuff’, they want to gift ‘stories’. They adore you and your brand and want to share it with their loved ones. If getting your face and story out there is not easy for you, this is your sign to feel the fear and do it anyway.
If someone wants to buy from a faceless brand they will go to Amazon or Etsy, these are not your target customers. Your ideal customer already wants to buy from you, they just don’t know it yet!
4. Prep stock
The run up to Christmas as a maker and business owner is manic no matter how much you prep but running out of stock should not be a stressor in the mix. Making sure you have units of your best selling pieces ready to send will mean you don’t have to be spending every waking minute of November and December filing. polishing and assembling. You can spend this precious time instead on promoting your pieces and making sure your website is ready to convert.
August can be notoriously slow for small businesses. So I hope you took the opportunity to prepare extra stock. If not this year, you will know for next year! But don’t worry, there is still plenty of time.
5. Think gifting
Does your website scream gift? Are you optimising your website for people shopping for gifts? If not, you might want to make it! Does a prospective customer know how and when their purchase will arrive and what the packaging is like? This is very important to most people when choosing a gift. Are your order deadlines clear on your website? No one wants a disappointed customer who did not receive their purchase before Christmas.
Do you offer gift wrapping? This is an incentive to buy from you and also a great way to increase your Average Order Value, which is an easy way to make more money from each sale without putting in much more effort.
Have you created gift related product edits? Using pricing as a guide can be a great way to signpost customers to where they need to be; gifts under £50, under £100 etc. Are you promoting your gift cards? Do you even offer gift cards? They are a must for capturing every Christmas sale possible especially the last minute ones. Have you published a blog making suggestions for what your most giftable pieces are? These can be easy mins to help customers convert.
6. Step up your communication
Most of us have struggled with feeling too salesy or spammy when promoting our businesses. But at Christmas this should not be a concern. You have to make the most of every last eyeball on your band and engage with as many people as possible.
You should already know things like what date is the last opportunity for people to order from you to receive their package before Christmas. What is the last date you can take on commissions ahead of Christmas? You may even already have a marketing plan including emails. If you do, double it! Emails are one of the most valuable channels to communicate with your audience. They want to know when your last order date is and they want to be reminded too. If anyone does unsubscribe because of this that’s fine. They were unlikely to be your ideal customer anyway. Customers definitely expect to be bombarded with marketing at Christmas, if it is not from you it will be from your competitors, or even worse, the usual big businesses who don’t need those precious sales as much as you do. Never feel like you are over communicating while PLT sends 5 emails a day!
7. Christmas is not the end, it’s just the beginning
Consistency is key in building a business. You will likely acquire a lot of new followers and customers over the Christmas period. Think about this less as the goal but more as the starting point for building loyalty. Make sure all those people have received an incredible service; great packaging and customer care, so that next time they are thinking gift (or self gift!) they think of you.
Keep up the communication after Christmas. Don’t let your new customers forget about you. You may even want to schedule an email for January while you’re planning your pre-Christmas ones so the hard work is done and you can take a well deserved break. Go into the new year determined to promote yourself with the vigour of the festive period, all year round.
I hope these insights have been helpful and have given you the inspiration you needed to tackle the Christmas period in a mindful but profitable way. If you need some support or want to dig even deeper into this topic (or a multitude of others for that matter) you can always reach out to me or read more of my blogs now.