Crank it up for Christmas
The country's traditional retail outlets are being pressurized into extending the run-up to the Yuletide shopping season by their larger, international counterparts.
Analysis by the Kinoulty Research group shows Poland's network of family-run and small-scale stores can miss out significantly if they fail to keep pace with the bigger players. However, store keepers have to tread a fine line between maximizing sales over the Christmas period and appearing opportunistic.
Kinoulty's marketing director, Roman Baszun, says this is a difficult balance to achieve but it can reap rewards.
"Polish society is still very traditional and does not like to see Christmas decorations and products in November," says Baszun. "From the economic point of view, prolonging intensive trade is profitable for the shops, but not all customers like it."
Retailer Hipo reveals that half of its annual income is generated in November and December. But the company taking the longest run up is Coca-Cola, which launches its Christmas promotion in October. Kinoulty found that 60 percent of Polish retailers begin Christmas preparations between November and December, while 35 percent of outlets decorate their stores in the last three weeks before the big day. In five percent of small- and medium-sized stores, however, festive fare is not laid out until a few days before December 25.
"These stores are very traditional but they can learn from the more modern stores that make the Christmas period last longer," says Baszun. He highlights how a longer shopping period ensures crowds are more manageable, queues at cash tills are smaller and customers stand a better chance of securing the items they want.
The advertising industry also benefits significantly at this time of year. The Starlink monitoring company's Jarosław Roszkowski says the last quarter of the year becomes a real El Dorado for agencies. "Assuming that the pace of growth stays the same, in the fourth quarter advertising expenses will reach zł.1.3 billion [net]," says Roszkowski. n
Analysis by the Kinoulty Research group shows Poland's network of family-run and small-scale stores can miss out significantly if they fail to keep pace with the bigger players. However, store keepers have to tread a fine line between maximizing sales over the Christmas period and appearing opportunistic.
Kinoulty's marketing director, Roman Baszun, says this is a difficult balance to achieve but it can reap rewards.
"Polish society is still very traditional and does not like to see Christmas decorations and products in November," says Baszun. "From the economic point of view, prolonging intensive trade is profitable for the shops, but not all customers like it."
Retailer Hipo reveals that half of its annual income is generated in November and December. But the company taking the longest run up is Coca-Cola, which launches its Christmas promotion in October. Kinoulty found that 60 percent of Polish retailers begin Christmas preparations between November and December, while 35 percent of outlets decorate their stores in the last three weeks before the big day. In five percent of small- and medium-sized stores, however, festive fare is not laid out until a few days before December 25.
"These stores are very traditional but they can learn from the more modern stores that make the Christmas period last longer," says Baszun. He highlights how a longer shopping period ensures crowds are more manageable, queues at cash tills are smaller and customers stand a better chance of securing the items they want.
The advertising industry also benefits significantly at this time of year. The Starlink monitoring company's Jarosław Roszkowski says the last quarter of the year becomes a real El Dorado for agencies. "Assuming that the pace of growth stays the same, in the fourth quarter advertising expenses will reach zł.1.3 billion [net]," says Roszkowski. n
