Brett Barcelona
Brett Barcelona, President and General Manager Retail Services
Are you succeeding with seasonal selling?
A couple of weeks ago marked the first official day of spring—and it ushered in a significant opportunity for the retail industry to leverage seasonal selling. If you are of the mindset that seasonal selling is limited to the holidays at the end of the year, I encourage you to expand your perspective and consider seasonal selling as a source of continual opportunity throughout the year. Something as simple as a change in temperature is just one of the many reasons customers look to refresh their shopping lists. With every season, major holiday and significant life event, we have an opportunity to assist our retail and CPG partners and engage with shoppers to deliver incremental results.
A recent study published in Shopper Marketing noted that retailers plan seasonal events an average of 6 to 12 months in advance. Planning is key to success. As good merchants and sales people, we must not only be well-educated on our industry, but we must also have the forethought to prepare far enough in advance so that we can help our partners leverage the demand for alternate products throughout the year.
It’s vital to think outside the box and make the most of every opportunity. From graduations to Easter to summer grilling season, shoppers have different priorities for visiting the grocery store. Work with your buyers and category managers to produce well-thought-out events for all departments and never stop looking for opportunities to connect with shoppers.
If you look across our organization, many of our teams consistently establish a solid foundation of year-round seasonal selling. If you are a leader, how can you help set the example for your team? In the spirit of Be One, I encourage you to look across the organization to identify and act on ways we can help each other. Your retail and CPG partners are great resources. If the conversation around seasonal selling hasn’t started for you yet this year, this is a great way to open the door, learn more about your customer and continue to drive a return on investment.
To help you achieve the most return for the investment in regard to year-round seasonal selling, our team is putting together a calendar featuring seasonal selling ideas for every week of the year. Look for a special email with this rolling calendar in the coming weeks.
I appreciate all that you do—you have my deepest respect and support.
Brett Barcelona
President and General Manager Retail Services