Glasgow retailer helps spread cost of Christmas but sustainability takes a hit
With Christmas trading being so important to greeting card and gift retailers, independents have been setting out their stalls to encourage that festive frenzy.
The cost-of-living crisis, Royal Mail strikes, and fears over energy prices and possible power cuts may be putting a bit of a dampener on spirits generally, but indies are banking on folk wanting some Christmas cheer, as the big day fast approaches.
Continuing our series, PG Buzz talks turkey with retailers about their hunches for this year’s Christmas trade and the approach they’re taking. Today, it’s the turn of Jo Marwaha, co-owner of two Penny Black stores in Glasgow’s West End and Charing Cross…
Christmas hunch: “We’ve seen a reasonable amount of Christmas sales online and instore over the past month but every day’s a school day post-pandemic!”
Your approach: “Our approach this year, much like many others, was to get product available as soon as possible to make it as easy for customers to buy early to spread the cost of Christmas. The sense we’ve got across the industry was to focus on value for money, eg reusability of items, a card and gift in one and, perhaps, lower price point options as well as themes that evoke feelings of tradition, warmth and magic.”
Affecting factors: “I think undoubtedly, the current climate will influence how people spend this Christmas. We predict customers may choose a card over a card-plus-gift this year so that presented an opportunity to curate some really special and unique card selections. Gift-wise, I think warmth-related products may feature more predominantly but they aren’t a million miles away from trends from the past few years around self-care/wellness and home and comfort.
“We have post offices in each of our stores so we’ve felt the impact of the Royal Mail strikes very pointedly. Time will tell if it changes how people connect with loved ones this Christmas but certainly it made customers think twice about posting on strike days.”
Online sales: “We hope the draw of local neighbourhood stores remains strong this year but there is potential for customer buying to be much more focused, by which I mean searching for something specific online and buying only that rather than the traditional browsing High Streets and shopping centres.”
Sustainability check-in: “Sadly, I think we’re already seeing concern for sustainability slipping down the agenda for customers, particularly when those products may have a higher price point. It appears to be seen more as a nice-to-have at the moment, but we’re hopeful the tide may turn once customers are feeling more comfortable.”
Top: Jo and Natalie Marwaha are helping customers spread the Christmas cost
