21st October 2025
It’s October, and some salons still haven’t thought about what they might do for Christmas and their potential retail offering. Big retailers understand that forward planning is critical to sales at specific times of the year, and whilst Christmas brings the biggest surge in retail across all business types, the big boys are already looking at Easter 2026 and beyond.
The Golden Quarter (October to December) can see sales increase by up to 7% across the hair and beauty sector. This is in no part due to special offer sets that offer extra VFM or a gift with purchase, that’s why perfume companies always release boxed sets because they appeal to festive shoppers.
The main players in the world of retail, chemists, beauty stores, department stores and supermarkets have already put Christmas 2024 to bed, their orders were finalised months ago and their shelves are now stacked with goodies for consumers who are doing their gift shopping right now.
Some salons will have taken advantage of pre-ordering their festive sets and probably have them in the stock cupboard waiting till the big day gets nearer before they are put out on the shelves. To have a successful Christmas retail boost the goods need to be out on display right now, not at the beginning of December. This doesn’t mean salons have to festoon their walls with glitter and tinsel, but it does mean creating a festive presence for clients to browse.
Lessons need to be learnt from what big retailers do. Guaranteed, Boxing Days brings a flurry of holiday adverts on TV and the launch of Cream Eggs in supermarkets and corner stores. Valentines’ cards appear and the cycle of marketing for specific calendar dates begins in earnest. Salons can take learnings from what big retail organisations do and drop them into their salon activity plan.
For example, in January set Valentines Day and Mother’s Day promotions. February brings Easter and spring offers, and then each specific calendar event should be promoted at least 4-6 weeks ahead. But when it comes to Christmas it really is the time to capture retail sales from the moment high street stores start showcasing their offerings. As a benchmark, when Liberty’s of London launch their Christmas department, usually late August, early September, that’s the time to start seriously planning activities around gift sets and festive present ideas that clients can see. This of course has to include sneak previews across social media, telling your followers what’s coming is a great way of keeping your salon retail at the front of their mind.
Big high street retailers invariably launch their festive collections with special offers, 3 for 2 being the most popular one that encourages consumers to shop. Wherever possible salons need to come up with innovative ideas that clients want to engage with that compete with these offers, be it gifts with purchase, special promotions such as discounts on January appointments when 2 or more gift sets are purchased (a double whammy as sales are achieved and an appointment for the quiet start of the year is secured) – anything that encourages clients to shop in the salon rather than on the high street has to be worth looking into.
Be like, and learn from the big retailers, think about Christmas in the heat of the summer months, think about Easter as you tuck into your turkey dinner, plan Father’s Day as you celebrate Mother’s Day. Always be ahead of the game by creating a marketing plan that features retail as a major focus for dates in the annual calendar that involve gifting.
Article first appeared in ‘Independent Beauty Professional‘
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