Jingle All the Way

by Angie Ash, Executive Vice President Engage the Five Senses in Your Store This Holiday Season As the song goes, “it’s the most wonderful time of the year.” This year we can only hope, right? For many people, possibly you included, it’s also the most stressful time of the year. Before you’re in the thick of it, make sure your in-store holiday experience for your customers is as relaxing and festive as it can be by engaging all their senses. Sight: Everyone likes holiday cheer. Have fun determining a color scheme or theme to dress up your store for the holidays. This year, keeping it simple is in order. Consider decorating a tree with garlands that look like pearls. Place some tasteful holiday decorations in your cases. Add some holiday trimmings to your wrapped packages. This year’s traffic will be different. If you’re planning to continue curbside pickup, consider adding extra exterior decorations to spread some of that holiday cheer. For customers reticent to go back to traditional shopping, make sure your appointments page is readily referred to. Sound: Create a holiday playlist (or several) of tunes old and new to make your customers smile. Classic songs will lend an air of nostalgia. A lot of variety and a wealth of songs will keep it fun for your employees, too. And avoid holiday burnout. Smell: You may not want to light holiday candles, but some lightly scented potpourri in crowd-pleasing fragrances, like vanilla, is comforting and encourages lingering. Peppermint is energizing and cinnamon tends to make people hungry. You may want to stay away from fragrances that tend to be cloying like pine and gingerbread, which some people love and others loathe. Taste: Offering baked cookies may be off the table this year, but you can always share beloved staff recipes that can be taken and baked in the comfort of your customers’ own homes. Touch: You hopefully have this one covered already. Make sure you let your customers know you’ll be cleaning and disinfecting jewelry so they are comfortable looking and touching it. An extra thought: It feels good to give to those in need. This holiday season, consider adopting a local family who has fallen under hard times and invite employees and customers to help give them a Christmas to remember. With planning completed and everything as much in place as possible, you truly can start off the season in a relaxed state of mind, even this year. Need some holiday help? Contact suits@fruchtman.com for inspiration!