Pre-Christmas market research 2024: What to prepare for?

Christmas is one of the most important times of the year for retailers and can bring them a significant increase in sales. However, this is only true if they prepare for it properly in advance. In addition to sufficient stock, it is crucial to know your customers, their buying behaviour and their needs. Where to get all this information and how to use it to your advantage? The best solution is in-depth market research.

Consumer behaviour changes in the run-up to Christmas

You may be telling yourself that you did your market research some time ago, so you don’t need a new one. But the truth is exactly the opposite. Consumer behaviour changes a few weeks before Christmas.

While during the year people generally buy what they really need and lack, they tend to spend more in the run-up to Christmas. They buy gifts or various, often less traditional, ingredients for cooking and baking.

You can also notice differences in the way you shop. A large percentage of customers buy at the last minute and very impulsively. This usually stems from holiday stress and lack of time.

At the same time, those consumers who take the time to shop and start earlier are more price sensitive. They actively look for discounts, special offers and promotions. They compare products with each other and try to find the shop that offers them the best deal.

The Christmas season brings specific challenges

In-depth market research can also be used to predict various specific situations. Customer service may encounter several during Christmas. These include, for example, dealing with late delivery of orders or unavailability of products.

Further, customer service agents should expect more emotional strain. Customers are often under pressure and they take their nervousness out on them. It is therefore important that they have the patience to try to advise the person on the other end of the line as best they can.

Expect busy customer service

A few weeks before Christmas, it’s a good idea to consider adding a few extra staff to your customer service team. Customers contact the helpline much more often during this period than in other months. They enquire about prices, discounts or return or complaint options. At the same time, they expect to receive an answer to their question as quickly as possible so that they know whether they can proceed with the purchase.

It is true that the longer you keep a customer waiting, the more likely they are to switch to a competitor who will cater to them. So try to respond to emails and phone calls immediately.

But it’s not just about speed, it’s also about the way we communicate and the quality of the responses. It is useless to the customer if you answer immediately but do not provide all the important information. This is why you should always employ people who are experienced in this area.

Take the survey before, during and after the Christmas period

The market research you do in the run-up to Christmas will help you predict customer needs and ideas. However, these may change over the Christmas period. Therefore, repeat it during and after the holidays. This will give you plenty of material to analyse and see how you did.

Don’t forget that your market research needs to be done by an expert who knows what aspects to focus on and what to look for. The best way to do this is to contact a call centre.

We at CreditCall can manage not only the classic telephone surveybut also Net Promoter Score (NPS), which is ideal for customer experience management purposes, and Quality Calls, which is an extended version of the NPS. Try one of these out for yourself and prepare for Christmas as best you can.