In October, it’s costumes. In November, it’s turkeys. In June, it’s grills. In December, well, you know.
Seasonal products may only be hot at only certain times of the year, but running a seasonal e-commerce business is a year-round task.
Halloween is approaching, but online costume shops have been busy since January. Tamir Nadborny of CostumeKingdom.com and StarWarsKingdom.com prepares for next year’s Halloween early.
“For us it begins in January. There really is no off-time,” he said.
“It’s year-round prep,” says Cynthia Ryan of ChildrensCostumesExpress.com. “I need to know what movie characters are hot because I don’t want to get stuck with a dud.” She usually starts ordering in January.
“It’s not rocket science, but it’s an art form,” Nadborny says. “You have to know the hot sellers and stock them. The earlier you order, the earlier you can figure out what the trends are and get more allocation. That way, when everyone wants the hot costume, you have it,” Nadborny said. “We order very early in the year because the manufacturers need lead time to project their sales so they can deliver all the goods.”
Ryan says that last year Transformers and Hannah Montana wigs were huge.
“I could have sold a thousand of them if I had them in stock.” she said.
Nadborny banked on consistent Star Wars appeal and opened a niche costume shop.
“Star Wars is consistent year after year. And this year with the release of the animated series they are introducing a lot of new characters. The manufacturers required new licenses to update the older ones around movie releases. It gives a fresh look to a brand that has been out there 30 years. We definitely stock a ton of Star Wars items.”
Ryan says when Sesame Street’s Abbey Cadabby party invitations began to sell out at her local Target she realized it would be a costume trend this year. “There are princess parties year-round,” said Ryan.
Dressing up is not just for Halloween after all. “When there are summer movie releases, there is always a rush for those costumes, like with Iron Man or the Hulk,” said Ryan.
“Thanksgiving, Christmas, Mardi Gras, Easter and then it’s Halloween again,” said Nadborny. “There are Renaissance Fairs and kids love to wear costumes year-round. Volume gets heavy in the middle of September and goes more haywire everyday.”
Robert Marshall owns ChristmasMouse.com and plans early. Way early. He does his e-commerce tweaking right after the New Year.
“Our ordering is 75% complete in January,” he said. “We like to do something with Solid Cactus to improve our site in January and February, and then in March we add new items,” he said
Seasonal Marketing
Nadborny says e-mail marketing has been effective for his costume stores.
“You constantly have to keep in touch with customers through e-mail. We do aggressive off-season promotions and restructure our website. We promote other holidays that provide a chance for business,” he said.
“I don’t spend much on advertising in the off-months,” says Ryan. “If I do something earlier, it’s usually with a focus on one costume,” she said. “I gear toward party themes during the off-times. I look in the stores to see what invitations they are pushing.”
After the Season
Halloween costumes change yearly. So what do stores do after the celebrations and costume parties pass? Have sales,
of course!
“I try not to go crazy with discounts because people still buy them for Christmas gifts. If shoppers can’t find a costume in a store after Halloween,” says Ryan, “they hit the web and they find it.”
“The end of season is one of the most aggressive in our field,” says Nadborny. “Come November, we slash probably about 60-70%. We got an order yesterday for $350 worth of clearances.”
Marshall’s retails shops are year-round Christmas stores stocking about 30,000 items—and trends in Christmas items are pretty consistent. Two popular exceptions: icicle lights and fiber optic trees.
Ryan leaves other seasonal stores with some advice:
“Try not to think of it as a seasonal item- there is always somebody out there looking for what you have!”
