It is a fact that retailers everywhere absolutely love this time of year. Online retailers (e-commerce vendors) love the run up to Christmas because consumers appreciate the convenience of being able to order their presents from home, while high street retailers look forward to benefiting from the last minute panic buying which has become so endemic among British consumers these days.
Of course, it is fair to say that some retailers will be rubbing their hands more than others at this moment in time. For instance, shops and stores – both of the online and ‘bricks and mortar’ variety – that sell video games, toiletries and personalised gifts will more than likely be ordering in as much extra stock as their storeroom can hold whereas vendors of garden furniture, summer sportswear and camping equipment will probably be a little less enthused by the promise of extra sales.
However, there is perhaps one type of retailer who sits head and shoulders above all others in the seasonal shopping pantheon – vendors of children’s clothes.
There is a saying that Christmas is for kids. Whilst this is traditionally used as an argument by fathers to justify why they should be able to go to the pub over the Christmas period, it can easily be applied to British shopping habits too.
According to leading supermarket chain Asda, parents are forecast to spend an average of £312 on their children this year.
That’s £312 on each individual child!
Whilst this figure is quite astonishing in itself, it is only part of a much larger picture. After all, kiddies can expect to not just get presents from their parents (and Father Christmas); they can also look forward to gifts rolling in from loving aunts, generous uncles and, of course, the most benevolent Christmas benefactors of all – grandparents.
Yes, it’s pretty lucrative being a child at Christmas these days!
So what is an average of £312 + auntie/uncle/grandparents contribution likely to be spent on?
Well, that’s where retailers of children’s clothes come to the fore. It is often the case that, whilst parents will typically look to buy more toys for their little darlings than they would clothes; aunties, uncles and grandparents tend to do the opposite. Indeed, it is a long held truth that, whilst grandmothers can easily walk past an entire department of toys without blinking an eyelid, they are simply unable to walk further than two yards at a time whenever they are anywhere near children’s clothes (this is especially true of baby/toddler clothes).
So really, capitalising on this kind of consumer interest is a bit like shooting fish in a barrel for vendors of children’s clothes. As long as their store looks appealing and they have plenty of childrenswear hangers (i.e. kids coat hangers and baby clothes hangers) which will make their booties, dresses and superhero costumes look as cute as can be, retailers in this niche field can look forward to enjoying yet another bumper build-up to Christmas.
About the author – Bo Heamyan blogs regularly about consumer buying habits and retail strategies, and has written extensively about the benefits of using high quality retail fixtures, fittings and display solutions for a number of industry leading websites, including Morplan.com.