Get inspired in new ways this holiday season and impress your customers!
The holidays are approaching, and this year the situation is more unusual than ever. With the lockdown creating even more challenging conditions for boosting the market—something businesses of all kinds are eagerly awaiting—it is especially important to move toward smart solutions that will strengthen our business.
From safety measures to the creation of new products and, of course, adopting a festive spirit, bakeries can remain at the top of consumers’ preferences.
See below how you can strengthen your business during this period and make the most of it, even under these unprecedented circumstances.
Planning
Although it may not be the most exciting part of preparing for Christmas, proper planning is the foundation of a successful holiday season. It is important to maintain a “personal” connection with your customers and to understand their preferences. Social media can help greatly with this, as you can create polls and questionnaires to invite your audience to take an active role in your production process. For example, through appealing visuals and photos, you could run an Instagram Stories poll about their favorite Christmas treats. Customers might vote on whether they prefer kourabiedes or melomakarona, chocolate or plain vasilopita, or melomakarona with or without coating, and so on.
This gives you an initial—and fairly reliable—sense of market trends. Sometimes it’s as simple as a single click on Instagram. This will help you focus more precisely on your seasonal products and coordinate with your suppliers so you can be sure to achieve the best results.
Equipment Check
Inspecting your equipment is crucial before the holiday season begins. Carefully check all your business machinery, refrigerators, and any technical tools you rely on, and make sure everything is working flawlessly—including delivery scooters.
Seasonal Products
With social media taking up the largest share of business visibility and visuals playing a major role, it is essential to enrich your product range with new Christmas-themed items. Alongside the classic seasonal products that remain timeless staples, experiment with new trends and ideas to attract consumer interest. Social media users are now well-informed about global trends and will appreciate a business that embraces a spirit of evolution and improvement.
From cookies in festive shapes to creative variations of traditional Christmas sweets—and why not, a completely new creation of your own, such as Christmas-shaped bread—every unique product gives consumers more reasons to choose you. Among the latest trends are cupcakes with Christmas decorations or wreath shapes, sugar-coated cookies decorated as Christmas trees or gingerbread cookies, and tree-shaped mini cakes with candy canes.
Don’t forget to spread the Christmas spirit both in your shop and among your staff. Aside from decorations, you can add a cheerful touch with festive staff uniforms as well.