The Christmas Rush

Has it started yet?

[andy_boyd]

I have a site which sells giftware, a lot of which is suitable for Christmas gifts. My past figures show that I should have been getting between 5 and 10 sales per day on this site since mid October. This has not materialized at all!

Is anybody else experiencing similar sales?

[andy_boyd]

Yeah, people tend to go crazy for Christmas, which then ties up a lot of their money. I reckon that most of the money spent in January is on sale stuff, especially here in the UK where the January sales are a Big Thing. As a general rule of thumb January and February are poor in terms of actual, bottom line profit.

On another, slightly related note .... I know of one case where a person takes out a £3k loan every year just for Christmas, then pays it off in time for the next Christmas when she repeats the process. Little wonder things go quiet in the first quarter. ;-)

[WebStart]

My Sales (US etailer, ship to US and Canada only) are right on target except behind, given the general growth in Internet usuage for ecommerce. About like last year, maybe a little better. And for me, whatever happens in DEC continues into Jan. And, as a general rule, into the following months of the next year. I guess what that says, is -- for me at least, as the use of the Internet grows, normally, so do my sales.

But - to answer the original post, this XMAS is pretty much like last XMAS, no better no worse, and maybe a little better, but not as much as I would have thought.

[mansterfred]

Before you compare to last year remember their still is one extra shipping day this week compared to last year. We offer same day shipping and already have a lot of 2-day orders for Monday.

At this point our website that has been active for over 2 years and sells our 1st quality goods is up about 3%. That could change by Tuesday though.

We opened a factory outlet on ebay about 3 weeks ago to move our seconds and closeouts. That site has done about 20% of the gross of our main site. Of course it is just to get cash flow and turn our junk.

Our Brick & Mortar B2B sales though are the champ for the first time in almost 18 months with 50% growth. Thank God for the cheap USA dollar...:)

[Essex_boy]

Hmm yes it was a bit busy to say the least, from around 13th November I was taking about £3500 ($6125) per week. It lept up by 40% when I started taking credit cards (2CO)which still hasnt come to me.... Despite paying out on the 16th December.

So im a touch skint to say the least. Oh well.

Over all yes excellent time made more money than I ever thought possible.

Things I got wrong this year;

Shipping costs
Packing cost
Relying on unreliable suppliers

Corrected the first two but im stuck with the third - Ill just hold a higher stock level.

Things to do this year;

Expand website product range.
Start another site!

Have a good new year all.

[Miop]

I have a problem with stock levels all the time - if I buy x, they want Y in spades, I buy Y in spades, they start buying Z.
I've still not figured out why x doesn't sell for a month and then ten people want one all in one day!