Gourmet Business September 2019

Make it Special For the Holiday

The all-important fourth quarter is on the horizon, and hopefully your mind is clearly focused on securing the right inventory for the holiday season. Solid wage growth and low unemployment are good indications that consumer spending should show solid gains during the holidays this year.  But, just because there is a prediction for free-flowing cash, doesn’t mean that it’s going to be spent in your store or e-commerce website.  It’s imperative to have the right kind of merchandise that follows the current trends and presents a clear and attractive opportunity to secure the perfect gift for the gourmet-oriented recipient.

The challenge is that what sells day in and day out may be different than what sells during the holiday time.  It’s hard to predict what may be right without some sales data to fall back on, so you have to rely on your instincts and your knowledge of your customer base.  If you put yourself in your customer’s proverbial shoes, what would you be looking for when you had no pre-conceived notion other than knowing that the gift was for someone who enjoys cooking and entertaining?  Surely you would be seeking something distinctive and not common.

In the Gourmet Gift Guide that we prepared for you in the coming pages, we sought, above all, products that were special and unique.  A gift shopper doesn’t want to choose something that the recipient might already have.  If the product is perfectly designed to satisfy an upcoming trend or exhibits artful design and functionality, your customer is more likely to feel like the gift will add to the enjoyment of food or improves upon the current collection in their recipients home.  Another wise way to approach this is to choose things that are consumable, like specialty food items.  Either the shopper will have some idea of the person’s taste and love for food, or it could be an item that could be used immediately to entertain guests during the holidays.  Either way it will be enjoyed and appreciated.

We wish you great success this holiday season, and hope we may inspire some good merchandising choices for your assortment.