Tis the Season?

It’s October 30th; time to think of pumpkins, trick or treaters, and that oh so lovely fall nip to the air. The summer is barely two weeks behind us, the winter still weeks away. So why, then, has my local dollar store started putting up Christmas displays?

Actually the displays started going up here in the early weeks of September. What is behind this rush to the holidays and why are we all being stampeded towards winter with summer barely gone? More importantly, what does this mean for those of us who create and sell our creations on line?

It seems like holiday displays have been going up earlier and earlier each year. Being the kind of person who puts off holiday shopping until the last possible minute, I was dismayed last year when I went out to get Halloween candy, and found Christmas candy on display – on October 31st. No way can I start buying Halloween candy before Halloween; it would never last in my house. ¬¬I was a bit annoyed, to say the least, to discover that the stores would now be dictating my holiday shopping schedule. This year I’ll bite the bullet and shop for Halloween candy on the 30th and hope I’ll have some left for the next day.

Several crafters I know have put together their Halloween collections and started posting them in September. I’ve learned from experience, skip Halloween (or put it up in August) and go straight to Christmas. When you sell online, it makes sense to get a jump on the seasons as early as possible; still, it is a bit disconcerting to walk into a store at the beginning of October and see the Christmas decorations up already.
Why the rush? Why does it seem like the holidays are getting pushed on us earlier and earlier?
Busy lives seems to be the answer I hear most. So many of us are busy from sun-up to sun-rise, that we lose track of days very easily. Because of this, many people will start their major holiday preparations as early as they can, hiding away gifts and decorations so that when November and Thanksgiving roll around, they are ready to wrap and decorate.
What this means to online vendors like us is that we need to keep up with the stores and the shoppers and offer our holiday items as soon as possible. Holiday promotion is also a must. Draw in those early shoppers by reminding them how much easier it is to shop online – no need to deal with crowds, parking lots or stores that run out of the desired items. Special sales, gift boxes and bags, and a reminder that Black Friday isn’t the only time to get the best deals are also big pluses. Cyber Monday doesn’t have to be the first Monday after Thanksgiving – hold your own Cyber Monday sale any time between now and the Holidays.
Another big selling point – Christmas isn’t the only holiday coming up in December. Because I come from a mixed background, I’ve always been conscious of both Christmas and Chanukah, and Kwanza as well. When tagging, I include all three holidays, and I’ve had shoppers message me and thank me for remembering that they celebrate during that time as well. As well as the traditional reds and greens of Christmas, offer the blue and white of Chanukah or the red, black and green of Kwanza.

Sometimes I think the stores are pushing it earlier and earlier each year. I sometimes wonder why they bother taking the holiday stuff down at all. Then I remember that these stores are competing for those shoppers and they wouldn’t be starting so early if they weren’t sure that there would be a profit involved. Much as some of might dislike the early push, as vendors we also have to go where the shoppers are, and if they want to shop for the holidays in early October, then we need to be there offering our wares.

Tags: black friday, Chanukah, Christmas, cyber monday, december, Halloween, hand made artists, Handmade, holidays, kwanza, Online Shopping

Posted in Handmade, Handmade Artisans, Handmade Holiday, Promote Handmade, Selling Tips