The pre-Christmas period in retail is an incredibly busy time. December is one of the best months for revenue, including in our industry. Poles spend more money in stores not only on gifts but, more importantly, on preparing for Christmas gatherings with their loved ones. During the exhausting shopping, they take a moment to relax with a coffee and a pastry, while businesses organize pre-Christmas meetings, elegant Christmas Eve dinners, and year-end summaries. Despite high inflation, we can still tap into the potential of this period and maximize profits for bakeries and confectioneries. Here are a few tips.
Create an Attractive Christmas Cakes and Sweets Offer
It’s hard to imagine Christmas without a Christmas tree, and the same goes for Christmas sweets. We all love festive treats, both in their traditional forms and with new flavor variations. Our displays should definitely feature cheesecakes, gingerbread, and poppy seed cakes. These are the classics that will always guarantee sales during the pre-Christmas period. The Credin Polska team has also developed new variations of delicious cakes in the autumn-winter catalog, designed with the upcoming Christmas season in mind. These are perfect options for coffee during a pre-Christmas gathering with friends, on the table during a company party, or at a family Christmas Eve dinner. Inspired by winter aromas of warming, spicy seasonings and seasonal ingredients…
Among our winter inspirations, you’ll find an aromatic honey cake with sesame seeds and semolina cream, balanced with tart blackcurrant jam, as well as a distinctive custard cake with walnuts and a pomegranate-cranberry filling.
Chocolate and dried fruit lovers won’t be able to resist our chocolate fruit cake, made with crunchy biscuits and a delicate chocolate mousse, enhanced with a hint of toasted coconut and dried fruit soaked in rum. Another one of our new offerings is the king of Christmas cakes: gingerbread with rum-soaked plums and a poppy seed filling, elegantly finished with a glaze. And our impressive, cloud-like Japanese cheesecake with cream and blueberry jelly is undoubtedly worthy of a place on the Christmas table!
Remember – Your Customers Buy with All Their Senses!
Use the principles of sensory marketing to engage all your customers’ senses during this special time of year. Ensure you have the right aromas that are directly associated with winter and Christmas. Olfactory stimuli reach the brain much faster than signals from other senses. The human body reacts to them unconsciously, influencing our mood and purchasing decisions. Use the warming, spicy scents of cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, and ginger, or citrus fragrances, in your store. These scents will lift your customers’ spirits, encouraging them to make a purchase by evoking positive associations.
Or Is It Worth Considering Offering Christmas Products on Days with High Customer Footfall? According to a GfK report on Christmas traditions, 27% of Poles begin their FMCG Christmas shopping at least a month before Christmas, with some even starting earlier*. For instance, offering cake tastings while customers are standing in line at a bakery or pastry shop during regular Saturday shopping trips, with the right encouragement from staff, could significantly increase their Christmas shopping list. Another effective strategy is using a “limited availability” tactic, which encourages quicker purchasing decisions and helps confectioners plan their pre-Christmas stock.
But Let’s Not Forget the Most Important Thing: We All Buy with Our Eyes! The right display of Christmas products is crucial. Ensure that your shop windows are beautifully decorated and that cake descriptions appeal to the senses and imagination. Arrange the cakes in contrasting ways to create a proper “scene” for your products, drawing customers’ attention to those you want to sell the most. With the right decorations, each sweet treat in your windows can take on a unique, festive character. Think elegant glazes, eye-catching decorations, starry, shiny sprinkles, mini gingerbread cookies, and meringues shaped like Christmas trees or candy canes. The right decor will add the festive “icing on the cake” and tempt customers to try new products.
Make the Most of the Pre-Christmas Period to Boost Sales!
The end of November and the beginning of December signal the start of a busy period for company meetings. Virtually every business focuses on organizing Christmas parties. Due to rising business costs and uncertainty about the future, some companies will likely choose to downscale and opt for more modest workplace gatherings. You can meet this demand by offering to provide sweets for such events. Preparing the right offer and sending it to 50 local businesses is cost-effective and could generate additional profits.
You could also consider reaching out to event companies or restaurants and suggesting that you create Christmas sweet tables for them. If you have suitable premises, you might also consider offering sweets for Christmas meetings. These are often informal gatherings of a few or a dozen people, and could be private, family, or company events. Customizing sweet treats for such groups can encourage them not only to meet on-site but also to place individual orders.
Remember that the holiday season is a time for giving gifts. Gift sets are a standard offering in many industries, including cosmetics. Nowadays, small local producers of preserves, artisans, and restaurateurs are also creating holiday gift sets. So why not transfer this practice to the confectionery business by creating sweet gift boxes? These boxes make the perfect gift for your boss, colleagues, or close family members. They can also serve as gifts for business partners and employees. Let’s create them using a cross-selling approach by combining complementary products into sets. Pay attention to the aesthetics of the packaging and, if possible, offer customers the option to personalize such products. And let’s not forget the simplest form of gift: gift vouchers. Prepare a festive, winter version of gift vouchers and encourage purchases through our communication channels and customer service.
Once you have the perfect Christmas offer, remember to promote it!
It’s worth using social media and in-store promotional opportunities to inform as many people as possible about your offers. Consistent, visually appealing communication may also encourage customers to order Christmas treats from you. Don’t forget about local advertising opportunities on Facebook or Instagram, where you can target your campaigns to specific neighborhoods near your business.
