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Beautiful fall leaves mean that Christmas is right around the corner.

 

Run your reports!

Review year-to-date sales volume, sales by category and price point, single SKU performance, aged inventory . . . look at it alland determine your needs for 4th quarter. Get your total units sold by CATEGORY so you can place your box and packaging orders.Nola Jackson and Deborah Brattin are just an email away. Get in touch for help or to answer any of your reporting questions.

Place your orders nowFocus on top performers and stagger your delivery dates where possible. You may need 7 of an item to last you thru Nov.1 but 30 of that same style for Black Friday only. Stage your deliveries which also stages your payables. Stretch out your receipts and your payables based upon your actual needs.

Schedule a due date calendar and check your PO deliveries daily. This enables you to stay on top of expected deliveries and to prevent delayed/late deliveries that can impact your season dramatically. Assign this responsibility to one person to monitor daily. The follow thru on PO delivery and sales performance reorder needs can be your holiday hero and create a stronger bottom line.

Seasonal help. Most retailers have hired their temporary/part-time/seasonal help and they are on the floor interacting with customers by Nov. 1. Generally plan for a two week ramping up/training period prior to that date for the most effective and productive results. That means you should be staffed for the Christmas season no later than Oct. 15.

When should you decide about Holiday Decorations for your store?  YESTERDAY  Take a Christmas decorations inventory and determine if they are fresh enough to use again. If they need revamping or updating, donate them and invest in something current and enjoy decorating your store with a “new look” for Christmas 2015.