How are you planning for this year’s festive/holiday season?

[tranguyen]

Hey everyone ⭐

It might only be the end of August but the bells are ringing out already — the festive/holiday season is just around the corner. 

Before we get too deep into this, we’d love to learn:

How are you planning for this year’s festive/holiday season?

Is there anything in particular that you are most excited or concerned about, or anything you are planning to do differently compared to previous years? Share it all with us here.

Can’t wait to read everyone’s replies! 🎁✨🎉

[#2]

The Seller Community Festive Season Survival Guide 2023 is here. Unwrap this article for tips from around the Community to keep the festive season stress-free. And don't miss the insights shared by @Bronze_Palms and @rtfulk. Thank you! 🎉

[rtfulk]

Christmas starts in April for us, we have to have all out clothing designs and styles finished and turned into the factory to start production in June/July. We start receiving them the end of August. What's exciting for us is to see the finished product, it's one thing to see a drawing, but nothing like seeing the real thing.

[PartyManiaMD]

Honestly we're pretty much screwed due to a lack of working capital when it comes to Halloween but the silver lining is Halloween and seasonal sales are down in the party industry overall....  We're pretty much overstocked for Christmas/Hanukkah/New Years Eve and most holidays coming up due to over-ordering last year. 

The hardest part about Halloween is that a LOT of people buy their stuff online, so our walk in volume is down significantly, which makes it impossible to stock tons of costumes and accessories because we are just not as busy as we used to be. Even if they're not buying online they're expecting the selection of an online mega store which is unrealistic for independent stores on a good day. 

Shopping trends have not moved in a reasonable direction, it used to be people would come in and pick out a costume, now they'll call ahead and want a very specific costume and if you don't have it they won't even come in. I still remember when Squid Games came out right before Halloween because everyone wanted to be Squid Games for Halloween and the manufacturers had literally nothing because the show wildly exceeded expectations so the demand outstripped supply by an insane margin. We literally turned off our phone lines because everyone in a tri-state area was calling asking for Squid games outfits (we're talking phones ringing off the hook 24/7) and when we didn't have them we would get verbally abused.

At this point I'm considering fully leaving the costume and Halloween market because it's just not worth it to spend $100k on merchandise to sell $50k. 

[classyfengshui]

Sad 😞 For me I can care less about the winter holiday (Chirstmas). Thanks for sharing your frustration and your challenges with us. Nobody wants to get verbally abused. I am not a fan of online shopping. The in person experience is SO MUCH BETTER!! And just seeing what is out there. Also interacting with other costume lovers. Online shopping is taking that away sadly 😞 Wishing you the best of your next adventure.

HALLOWEEN IS MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!! 

[Doran]

Things are really down for me this year but I still plan on doing my big window display for Halloween and the festive season.  I'm focusing on "capsule" collections each month where I promote the same 15 things throughout the month.  They are all planned out and the content + social posts are all written and scheduled.  I don't plan on promoting gift cards as much this year and instead focusing on treatment packages.  Events and mixers crossed my mind but I hate networking so until I can hire someone to do that for me it is a no.  

[JUYBoutique20]

I'm so excited to do my holiday display again...also I can't wait to introduce our new ugly Christmas sweaters.  

[isabelle]

Can't wait to see @JUYBoutique20 !!!

[JUYBoutique20]

I'll post as soon as I set everything up.

[Doran]

We are going to need pictures!

[JUYBoutique20]

I'll definitely post some.

[classyfengshui]

Nice 😉 Have fun!

[Bronze_Palms]

I am such a big planner so I love this question. Last year, I was so anxious about the holiday season but now that I have more staff members who are all fully trained, i am so much more excited to celebrate. With more staff and more staff diversity (students, parents, post-college, etc), it allows everyone the flexibility to leave town, get coverage when they need a day off, etc. 

Also, I am really working on consistency in scheduling. I have seen payroll costs go up quite a bit during our busier times but the productivity is not as good. This next quarter, I am focussing on consistency in payroll instead of adding during peak times. 

[classyfengshui]

Nice! Glad that you attracted more people and bringing in more diversity. Best of luck to you. I love planning to!! But sometimes plans don't go according to plan. Then I just go with the flow lol. 

[classyfengshui]

I am planning to do another booth/vendor event talking about Classical Fengshui and Tarot Readings. This will be my 2nd time. But this time I am planning to sell some Origami Flying Stars. Just have to figure out the taxes huh...The FIRST one went GREAT!!! I made a lot of connections, a good amount of profits for being my first one. I learned a LOT from the process. There may be another vendor event in Dec. But it haven't been finalize it. Keeping up with my workouts. I am going to a Chinese Healing Event in Austria next month 🙂 Also to deep clean my apartment unit lol. I neglected my dishes, laundries because I was too focus on getting ready for my first event 🙂 

[Helen]

The Seller Community Festive Season Survival Guide 2023 is here. Unwrap this article for tips from around the Community to keep the festive season stress-free. And don't miss the insights shared by @Bronze_Palms and @rtfulk. Thank you! 🎉

[Roll4Cuteness]

Oh my goodness yes. I was at a Halloween market and had several customers ask if we had any Christmas designs. Immediately went and bought some Xmas fabric. Though it seems like a lot of holiday markets aren't advertising for vendors yet. 

[Helen]

A Halloween market sounds fun! I hope holiday markets start advertising for vendors soon so you have plenty of time to apply and get organized!