Your Holiday Sidelines Checklist: What to Reorder, Test and Skip

If you haven't placed your holiday gift orders yet, take a breath. That's totally fine. Thanksgiving is late this year (Nov 26), and holiday sales really pick up after it. You've got time to get things in order before the rush!

Here's how I'd work through it, from five years of holiday buying for my own shops.

Before you buy anything, look at what you've got

1. Your data. What are you low on? What's on your bestseller list? What's sitting in backstock?
2. Your floor. What's not moving? How could you re-merchandise what's already in the store into a holiday display?
3. Your gaps. Now you know what you actually need to order.

Reorder

Your year-round best sellers. Many of ours were holiday best sellers too. We'd deepen those categories for holiday, especially anything that worked as a stocking stuffer.

Cards, and more than you think. A week before Christmas in 2021, we were down to one or two of our top-selling cards. We'd ordered based on projections and sold more. So in 2023, I went with my gut and ordered about 15% over our projections. It paid off: we beat our sales estimates, and the few leftovers gave us a head start on the next year. Cards are an easy, affordable bet because they tend to stay relevant year after year. Gifts need more discretion, especially if they're trendy or higher cost.

Occasion cards beyond Christmas. Keep Hanukkah cards out all season for belated greetings, and don't forget December graduates.

Test (in small quantities)

A stocking stuffer table. If I had one empty table going into holiday, this is what I'd do with it. A good stocking stuffer is unique or useful, and it has to fit in a stocking. I'd have at least 3–5 categories on the table, with maybe 4–8 SKUs in each. Keep most items well under a $30–35 ceiling, and think about who people are shopping for: coworkers, teachers, bosses, white elephant swaps. Snacks and candy always work. The test: what can someone grab a handful of without blowing their budget?

The register. Small footprint, easy-yes price point, relevant to the season. For all humans, there's impulse and there's need, and if you make it an easy yes, they'll add it.

Gift boxes from what you already have. Repackaging existing product helps people who have a hard time shopping for gifts, and it moves slower stock. We had a lot of befuddled men shopping for their partners, and gift boxes were an easy option for them!

Trend items, if they fit you. Trendy is always good for stocking stuffers, but only if it fits your store's ethos. Decide how much to bring in, where it goes and how you'll move it quickly.

Low minimums from indie makers keep the risk small when you're trying something new.

Skip (this late in the season)

• A brand-new category. You won't have time to build the depth it needs to sell.
• Gift wrap you can't staff. Be honest about whether you can realistically do it on a busy floor. A ribbon or a cute sticker on the bag goes a long way.
• Pushing corporate gift orders, unless someone comes to you and asks.

When is it too late to order?

It depends on the vendor. Since holiday sales really pick up after Thanksgiving, aim to have product on the floor by then so it has the whole rush to sell. Before you order, check each maker's posted lead times, or reach out and ask. If they can deliver within a few days, you've got more wiggle room to fill gaps into December.

With local makers, keep in mind that if they make by hand, they've probably been building their holiday inventory for months, and it may already be committed. It's always worth asking, though: "I'm looking for small quantities of these items, if you have them." They may have been prepping for a market and can do more. You never know.

After the rush

Whatever's left, decide whether to discount it or save it for next year.

Ask:

 What's its overall value, and is it a best seller worth holding at full price?

How much space will it take up come spring?

Will it still be relevant, or is it trendy or about to expire?