Holiday Preparedness

for Retail

BestPratices

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Deck the Halls!Retailers Gearing Up for Holiday ShoppingWe might still be a few months away from the busiest

shopping time of the year, but for retailers the holidays

are just around the corner. Forward-thinking business

leaders know that in order to have a successful holiday

season, they need to start making plans early on. Not

only do they have to make sure their staff members—

both permanent as well as any seasonal hires—are well

prepared to handle the increase in customer traffic, but

retailers also need to make sure their online properties

are up to date and won’t crash during the shopping

peak. Further, savvy retailers have analyzed their per-

formance over the past years and will be implementing

learnings into this year’s preparedness plan. Best Buy

Canada, The Jones Group, Limoges Jewelry, Philz

Coffee, Papyrus, and Fab.com share their holiday pre-

paredness plans.

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Recognizing the necessity of looking back and analyzing what worked and what

didn’t, Best Buy Canada says holiday planning starts with a thorough review of

the previous season, outlining successes and pinpointing areas of improvement.

“In retail you always need to be evolving. We learn something every year,” notes

Robert Pearson, vice president of ecommerce at Best Buy Canada. Pearson also

highlights the need to accurately forecast what customers will want to purchase

very early on in order to have those items in stock.

“ In retail you always need to be evolving. We learn something every year.”

— Robert Pearson, vice president of ecommerce at Best Buy Canada

Last Christmas Imparts Important Lessons

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With customers increasingly using mobile to shop, The Jones Group wants to provide a

simple and reliable experience. Michael Hines, the company’s vice president of e-commerce,

notes that customers also find it difficult to input information on mobile sites, especially while

they’re on the go. In order to address this problem, the company is integrating PayPal on its

brands’ mobile sites, allowing for a quick payment system.

The Jones Group is integrating PayPal on its brands’ mobile sites, making it easier for customers to shop on their mobile phones

Mobile Commerce Is Coming to Town

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An increase in sales is what retailers want to see, but this can also spell problems unless the organization is well

prepared. Limoges Jewelry’s 2011 offer that included free shipping and guaranteed delivery by December 24

almost fell victim to its own success. Jon Ozaksut, the company’s ecommerce marketing manager, notes that

Limoges had to splurge on expensive expedited shipping to make sure customers received their orders on time.

While last year Limoges responded with an earlier cutoff shipping date, this year the company is working on an even

better solution. The company is also leveraging social media to get a real-time indication of customer sentiment.

“We want to take a proactive approach when something goes wrong,” Ozaksut notes.

“ We want to take a proactive approach when something goes wrong.”

— Jon Ozaksut, Limoges’ Jewelry ecommerce marketing manager

Driving Home (the right message) for Christmas

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A pound of coffee makes for a great stocking stuffer and Philz Coffee, a San

Francisco-based chain, sees a good spike in sales. Jacob Jaber, the company’s

CEO, notes that last year the company was offering discounts on its house

blend and the increase in sales meant that associates were taking a long

time packaging purchases. In response, this year the company decided to

pre-package its house blend at the warehouse to allow associates to be more

agile and have more time to serve customers.

All I want for Christmas Is...a Positive Experience

Pre-packaging its popular house blend will allow Philz Coffee’s associates to be more agile and spend more time with customers.

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With Americans purchasing some 1.6 billion holiday cards, including

box sets, during the holiday period, this time is of critical importance for

Papyrus, notes Dominique Schurman, CEO of the popular chain’s parent

company, Schurman Retail Group. Preparedness is key, with the first step

being analyzing sales data to make a retail plan for the coming year. “We

start preparing [for next year] the day after Christmas,” Schurman says.

She says part of Papyrus’ holiday preparedness plan is looking at

how the company can add more value to its customers by providing

exceptional service, not just during the holidays but every day.

Waiting for the Mailman

“ We start preparing [for next year] the day after Christmas.”

—Dominique Schurman, CEO Schurman Retail Group

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Fab.com used the summer months to train its customer service team, the Crackerjacks.

Holiday preparedness is not solely the job of one part of the

organization, stresses Susan Ho, director of operations of

online design retailer Fab.com. Instead the whole company

is focused on making the holiday season the best experience

possible. Ho notes that preparation starts early and the com-

pany is using the summer months to train the Crackerjacks,

its customer service team, helping them focus on quality

interactions that customers expect.

Preparing for a Fabulous Holiday Season

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