Christmas Sales

[cycloneuk]

Looks like people have left it a bit later than usual this year because since Sunday sales have really picked up and we are struggling to stay well stocked. How is everyone else doing?

 

[deniser]

This week has followed a different pattern to the normal week with visitors to our site and sales rising between Sunday and today whereas it's usually the opposite.

Last year 10th December was our last day of the year when we got the usual 1000+ visitors to our site, by 11th December it had slumped to 129 and after that it lurked around at about 50-75 visitors until 23 December when traffic started to rise again in anticipation of the sale and rocketed up again from there rising to a peak on 14 January.

So I am expecting today to be the last really good trading day based on last year's pattern but who knows? I am certainly hoping it goes quiet because I could do with a couple of weeks off to do other things (primarily socialising!)

 

[sysops]

Last year 10th December was our last day of the year when we got the usual 1000+ visitors to our site, by 11th December it had slumped to 129 and after that it lurked around at about 50-75 visitors until 23 December when traffic started to rise again in anticipation of the sale and rocketed up again from there rising to a peak on 14 January.

That's really interesting! For us, 11th-20th Dec traffic continues to climb, and turnover is around 1.5x that of 1st-10th Dec. This was certainly the case last year, and I'm expecting the same this year.

 

[deniser]

That's really interesting! For us, 11th-20th Dec traffic continues to climb, and turnover is around 1.5x that of 1st-10th Dec. This was certainly the case last year, and I'm expecting the same this year.

That's because our sale starts on 25 December when everything is 30% off!

I think we are one of the very few clothing retailers who hold out until after Christmas for the sale because I want our customers to know exactly where they stand. I would hate them to buy something on 1 December and find it has been reduced by 30% on the 10th December.

At least by 25 December, they will either have worn the item at Christmas or given it to someone as a present which then minimises returns for us. We rarely get post Christmas returns.

Our peak selling times are February and September when the new season's collections come out. The busiest day on our website this year in terms of visitors was 14 January!!

 

[cycloneuk]

Interesting to see some stats since i wasn't in the retail business last Christmas so not quite sure what to expect but i estimate that sales will stay steady or continue to climb in the perfume industry right upto our last posting date, but anything can happen i guess.

 

[gibby]

today has been crazy - orders starting from 7am which is not usual
but alot more small orders for some reason
our sales have increase every month lately but we expected the rush earlier


times are strange

G

 

[alexis.sexy]

From what i hear from my aunt, business is not as good as it was last year.
Its slower compared to last year.

She said even discounts are not pulling the crowd in

 

[Peter1982]

We had an amazing November and it looks like December could be even better. Last Sunday was our busiest day ever but things do seem to have slowed a little since then. We're waiting for it to slow down properly cos I need a break!!!!

 

[cycloneuk]

So far since Sunday our sales have increased daily and we have had our best day since we started today, weekends are usually good for us so will be interesting to see what happends this weekend. I am really struggling to stay stocked, i have another delivery Monday but will also need another one Wednesday if i can get one for all the orders that will come in on the last posting day. Had a small order today and most went straight out, i have certainly learned some lessons for next year with stock, order what i think i need and treble it lol.

 

Really surprised expected to be down on last year,yet we are 40% up.

And our per order value is over £100.

So where is the recession.:|

Earl

 

[Mister B]

Well, I hate to say it but I have no idea how we are doing statistically, too busy processing orders. We were fortunate to have a products in last weeks Mail and since then we haven't stopped. Just taken five minutes out to catch up on here...It's also a bit harder to compare with us as this is only our first full year. (But second christmas.)

Mister B

 

[Mark_anderson]

Christmas season sales going up and up. The reason may be many businesses have been closed due to downturn. One of my friend had 6 ebay stores with two different companies but now he is running only 3 stores, because he cannot afford 2 companies at this time. So competition is low and rest stores having good number of sale. I think this is the cause because some sellers are getting great sales figure due to downturn.

What do you say??

 

[luckyg]

Well, I hate to say it but I have no idea how we are doing statistically, too busy processing orders. We were fortunate to have a products in last weeks Mail and since then we haven't stopped. Just taken five minutes out to catch up on here...It's also a bit harder to compare with us as this is only our first full year. (But second christmas.)

Mister B

how much did the mail cost you? it was definetly worth it was it?

 

[quikshop]

I would hate them to buy something on 1 December and find it has been reduced by 30% on the 10th December.

They are not daft either, customers will return an item bought at full price and buy the same item at the sale price... or just demand a partial refund of their full price purchase.

Online shopping is booming, this might be the first time ever our Ecommerce service processes over £100k's worth of orders in a single month

 

[maria102]

I think we are one of the very few clothing retailers who hold out until after Christmas for the sale because I want our customers to know exactly where they stand. I would hate them to buy something on 1 December and find it has been reduced by 30% on the 10th December.

At least by 25 December, they will either have worn the item at Christmas or given it to someone as a present which then minimises returns for us. We rarely get post Christmas returns.

I think this is brilliant advice for me Denise, we've had lots of people coming in asking when our sale is as other shops are starting early, but we are holding our ground for the reasons that you have stated (its good to hear someone else is doing thing the same way) and of course as we are new business it would look a bit odd discounting so early when we have only been open 7 weeks.

 

[Blush]

Our online sales have gone through the roof this month, as for the shop it has gone completely crazy this week and today was fantastic!!!
We have a permanent sale rack, but won't be starting our 'real' sale in teh shop until 1st January.
Website has regular items that are discounted and these change around.but our 'real ' sale online will start on 25th December!
I can't believe how many kiddies snowmen costumes we have shifted this week

 

[deniser]

So I am expecting today to be the last really good trading day based on last year's pattern but who knows? I am certainly hoping it goes quiet because I could do with a couple of weeks off to do other things (primarily socialising!)

Well so far I am wrong because internet sales are still going strong. I think it is because there are only positive news stories about Royal Mail this year (posties walking faster, Sunday and evening deliveries etc. ) rather than last year's fiasco after the strike when all the news stories were negative and people weren't confident about getting things in time for Christmas.

Had my first delivery of summer stock today (despite ordering it for February delivery)!! Suppliers desparate or what - but I sure as hell won't be paying for it until March!

 

[Peter1982]

Our sales seem to be finally slowing down but Monday and Tuesday could see a last minute surge as these tend to be busier days. Looking forward to having a break!

 

[cycloneuk]

I expect today to be slow for most people since many will be out Christmas shopping, which is where i am heading shortly, i will probably get a flurry of orders this evening and tomorrow should be good.

 

[deniser]

I expect today to be slow for most people since many will be out Christmas shopping, which is where i am heading shortly, i will probably get a flurry of orders this evening and tomorrow should be good.

Talking of Christmas shopping, I finished mine in record time yesterday afternoon - no more than an hour and a half (although I was armed with a list so knew what to buy) because the shops were completely empty.

I didn't have to queue at all in any of Game, Argos, M&S or Fenwicks as well as the independent shops. In Argos my box came down the conveyor belt in 1 minute so I spent less than 3 minutes in the shop.

When I worked in Argos many years ago, we had queues which went out of the door and down the street and the most popular products were out of stock. We used to get shouted at by irate customers who had queued for hours to buy transformer toys which were all the rage then only to be told when they got to the front of the queue that they were sold out. There wasn't any stock checking facility in those days.

 

[maria102]

We haven't been as busy as I would have liked.....though we have done okay on sales?! Most people are buying something when they come in as though they know what they are coming in for, although we have less browsers?

 

[Mister B]

how much did the mail cost you? it was definetly worth it was it?

Didn't cost me a bean One of their very nice researchers called us on Friday to confirm out last order dates fopr pre Christmas delivery and just said that it was a feature going in the next days Mail. Next thing we know is the ching ching of online orders It has been an interesting exercise as it gave us an insight into the kind of response rate that we could expect should we ever want to pay to be included in such a feature. A long way off though me thinks.

Yesterday was still pretty manic, today a little quieter which will get quieter still on the run up to next weekend. Me? I'm looking forward to a couple of days off and some time to analyse and take stock of how the Christmas Trading period has been.

Mister B

 

[cycloneuk]

Just got back and town was packed, went into games station and got asked about 4 times if i needed help which is annoying, if i need help i'll ask lol. Just checked the websites sales and had 4 orders today, those 4 people must have already done their Christmas shopping because it seemed like everyone was on the high street. I expect to get a handfull of orders after 9pm once everyone is home, had there tea and relaxed a little.