Your aim during the Christmas period is to make as much money as possible-this is after all the most important time for retail. However we should be looking at the bigger picture to ensure we are standing out from the crowd and building customer loyalty even during this busy season.

Start from the very beginning

We all have the "what will I buy for x person" anxiety...your job is to offer solutions and make the customers job easier.

The stock you ordered at the Showrooms is already being delivered to your pharmacy. Don't panic!!! Ensure that what you ordered is actually what has come in. As soon as your Christmas stock comes in you need to get it on the shelves-you are not going to sell it in the stock room. You therefore need to make room for this extra stock. You have your seasonal space and your special offers area but do you need more room? If yes, then look at reducing shelf space on your non-essential lines and slow sellers-streamline for Christmas. It's a good idea to take photos of your merchandised shelves pre-Christmas so it will be easier to return your pharmacy to its former glory once January comes around. If you have space you may also want to bring an extra gondola or display table. However, be careful not to clutter the pharmacy too much-this will make it more difficult to shop. Space is premium so use it wisely-make it work for you!

Telling a story!

Exciting merchandising and marketing will really have an impact on your sales at Christmas. Think about the colour theme for your pharmacy-will you go traditional red and green or black and gold or will you be very fashionable and go for the colour of the moment, purple? Whatever you decide try and bring this theme right throughout your pharmacy- your decorations, your wrapping your windows. It will really help to create an atmosphere. Be careful that your decoration does not distract from the products-your aim here is to highlight them so they will jump off the shelves!

Avoid tinsel!! Try white fairy lights instead-even better if you can get twinkle fairy lights-they will really attract your customers to a specific area. You can also create a story for your products. Group gifts together according to who they would be suitable for and highlight this with signage e.g. gifts for teacher, gifts for Granny. This type of merchandising is known as problem solving. We all have the "what will I buy for x person" anxiety...your job is to offer solutions and make the customers job easier. Its important that this section includes gifts varying in price to ensure you are catering for all.

Celebrities are everywhere. Each year more and more celebrity magazines are on our news stands, entire tv channels are now dedicated to which actress / singer did what, when and with who, every celebrity worth their salt has a fragrance and almost every product aimed at both men and women are now being advertised by celebrities. So how can we use this to our advantage? Why not do a red carpet section where all the celebrities perfumes are promoted? Try and make it as plush and luxurious as possible and use photos of celebrities.

Also if you spot any articles of various products in Vogue or Cosmo cut them out and frame them for your counter to highlight the product..."As seen in Vogue". Advertising support for perfumes can be difficult unless you have an agency and this is a good way of getting around that.

Your customer is King!

To quote Fergal Quinn, founder of Superquinn, the customer is king. This can be difficult to remember during the busy Christmas period. It can be a stressful time for the customer so try not to add to their stress. Welcome your customers to your pharmacy, wish them a Happy Christmas and thank them for shopping with you. Always ask if they would like their purchase gift wrapped-it really adds to their experience, except maybe if they have to wait for 20 minutes to get this done. If you are offering a wrapping service ensure you do it correctly. If you can, employ a seasonal worker to wrap purchases or do a wrapping rota for your team. You could even ask for donations to a local charity in return for wrapping your customer's gifts.

If you are a community pharmacy this is a great PR initiative. You could also highlight that for every €100 spend by a customer, you will donate a toy to a children's charity. It may increase your average basket spend while also helping the community.To add to the look of the atmosphere of the pharmacy closer to Dec 25th, you could provide your team with seasonal aprons, or festive hats / badges.

Your aim is to enhance the shopping experience of the customer at Christmas and so it important to stand out from the crowd. Little touches like this will help. Music can positively or negatively influence the shopping experience. All retail outlets seem to play the same festive tunes at Christmas-this can get old really quickly!! Take a note from the successful American retailers, Banana Republic. They have a selection of music for different seasons and their Christmas cds, which are on sale in their stores, are completely different to what you will hear anywhere else. Anything you can do to enhance the customers experience will help gain competitive advantage and gain customer loyalty.

Sell, sell, sell!

It has to be said that customers are less price sensitive at Christmas-this is music to our ears as it makes up-selling much easier. However, this depends on where your pharmacy is based and who your customer is and with the Big R people are counting every penny. This means that you now, more than ever, really need to show value to your offering.

It is essential to be fully knowledgeable on all your products. You need to be the expert. For example, if you are selling a Chanel perfume know what the full range is and even speak about Coco Chanel and Chanel's legendary designer Karl Lagerfeld. You want to let the customer know that you know your stuff. Check out www.perfumestheguide.com for information about various perfumes.

Ensure you get testers for your products-very difficult to sell perfumes without testers. Also be confident about which perfumes are light and airy, which are strong and musky.

Customers are much more likely to buy the bigger size at Christmas so make sure you give them the chance! Similarly with complimentary products e.g. body lotions, shower gels that compliment perfumes. Using multiple products is very popular with French women.

There is huge potential to be successful at Christmas both from a financial and a customer loyalty perspective. Its up to you to maximise this potential.