Everything Must GoThe Christmas retail season begins moments after the last trick or treaters are on their way home and ends on Christmas Eve as the stores lock their doors for the night.
This Week Only
This weekend, the stores will be filled with people returning and exchanging Christmas gifts while the retail industry settles in for a long winter’s nap. But in some countries there is one final push to create just a little bit more urgency.
Boxes to Bargains
In the UK, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, Germany and a few others, today is Boxing Day. Originally called St. Steven’s Day, this was when the upper class would give gifts such as clothing and food to the lower classes in boxes for easy transport.
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Christmas is on the 25th of December and Boxing Day is on the 26th. But years ago, the retail industry decided to extend the ask and create an even large sense of urgency and excitement with the creation of Boxing Week which began well before Christmas. It's akin to retailers 'chopping down prices' to celebrate the birth of George Washington.
Savings Are Store Wide
If you attempt to create a sense of urgency during your Boxing Week sale, are you not telling customers that your profit margins are too high the rest of the year or that the best time to buy from you is during this limited time?
Boxing Week is a multi-billion dollar event.
Earlier today, Margie Osmond from the Australian National Retailers Association said "We've had a fabulous healthy start to Boxing Day sales which is the biggest shopping day of the year."
Some economists predict that the countries that have adopted the Boxing Week model will see an economic correction from the downturn the rest of this year. It appears that St. Steven has done well for the bottom line.
Perhaps Obama should put it on the to-do list for 2010?
How can you apply this to your business?
@knealemann
image credit: lowbrowstyle
