January can be an awkward month in the product world. For Western countries, it’s the start of a new year, and whilst it’s a great time for planning a lot of people are still in holiday mode. For countries that celebrate the lunar new year, it’s a month of rushing to make sure everything is completed before the holiday shut down. But whilst it’s tempting to ease into the new year there are wins to be made by starting new product developments now.

As everyone knows a large portion of sales come during the holiday period. In Australia, over 20% of annual sales happen during the two weeks leading up to Christmas. Therefore it’s crucial that your product range is well placed to make the most of this sales period. Filling product gaps or giving customers an evolution of your best style can make all the difference. Getting started on these types of projects at the start of the year ensures you’ve got time to implement the range changes that will cement your end of year budget.

Whilst we’re looking to the future, let’s talk about Holiday season 2021. Did you know that your best selling products between January and August will be your best sellers for Christmas? That means launching new categories and new products at the start of the year gives you time to build awareness over the course of the year to peak right in time for the holidays. New innovation also gives your business the chance to develop new sales channels. To top it off customers reward businesses that bring newness to their business, they are willing to pay more for innovative products which helps remedy the discount wars of the holiday period. 

Whilst it may feel like there’s plenty of time between now and the end of the year, with only 9 months between now and November, it’s actually the last chance to make those smaller range adjustments. Even a 12-month delivery is quite a tight timeline when factoring in all the logistics involved which means it’s never too soon to get started on those more complex developments.

We know that resource and budget management is critical to ensuring that your operational margins are maintained. This can make finding resources for innovation or new categories a challenge. By working with an external team, investment and returns can be accurately budgeted and separated from the operational budget. So it’s time to put down John Grisham and give yourself the best chance of a big 2020/21 by getting started today.

Interested in working with Soft Serve? Get in touch here