Angus wonders….if a business has to rely on Christmas sales to survive then is it a flawed strategy?
It seems for many years now, more and more, well-known brands and stores are relying on healthy sales at Christmas as the answer to their economic woes. Indeed, some have come to view Christmas time as critical to their very survival.
Whilst the homecare industry is perhaps, less reliant on Christmas than other industries, there are still many who view December as a crucial month and see the festive season as a key marketing opportunity.
I can't help thinking though, any business strategy that is so heavily reliant on a single event or time of the year is flawed and quite simply never going to work long term.
Herein lies the problem, although in the predominantly Christian west, Christmas is a time for celebrating with the giving and receiving of gifts, more and more people are now looking to reduce the financial burden of Christmas by cutting back on the indulgences or looking to spread the cost by buying gifts earlier in the year and storing them ready in time for Santa's visit.
The knock on effect of this, is that each year shops start to advertise their Christmas wares earlier and earlier. The problem is that it doesn't work and in fact probably has the opposite effect.
Given that, in reality, Christmas only lasts about two days of the year, do we really need to start promoting it so heavily more than two months in advance? Am I the only one that by the time December the 25th actually comes around, I've simply had my fill of jingle bells, tinsel and seasonal chintz and feel that the magic has waned to the point I can't wait to see the back of it!