Retail Christmas Stock Planning: How Much Should You Actually Buy?

Before you place one more Christmas order, stop and ask a different question. Not "how much money have I got left to spend?" but "is my stock actually ready for Christmas, and where are the genuine gaps?" **Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club, Catherine Erdly.** This episode is brought to you by our sponsor Capify - business funding made simple. Find out more at capify.com I said this was going to be a four-part Get Set for Christmas series, but there's one thing I didn't dig into properly, and it's the thing that quietly decides whether your Christmas is profitable or just busy: the stock itself. The trade shows are done, the catalogues keep landing, the reps keep calling, and every new range looks like the one that's going to make the difference. The temptation to keep buying is enormous, and it's easy to justify because Christmas matters so much. In this episode I walk you through how to work out whether your stock is ready, and I mean properly ready, by category, not just a list of bestsellers. I show you the check that reveals when something is badly out of line (the one where jewellery is 40% of your sales and 10% of your stock), the question almost everyone forgets to ask about what they want left on 31 December, and the calculation the Stock Doctors run for every client that turns a vague budget into a specific gap to fill. I run the numbers on a worked example so you can see exactly how £6,000 on the shelf, £2,000 on order and a £10,000 sales expectation become a real buying budget. By the end you'll know how to tell a genuine gap from a gorgeous distraction, how to buy strategically rather than opportunistically, and how to come out of January with cash in the bank instead of a stockroom full of problems. If you've ever bought something because you loved it rather than because your business needed it, this one's for you. **Chapters** 00:00 Stop before you buy anything else for Christmas 01:31 Your buying budget isn't a pot of money 02:20 Look at last Christmas by category, not by bestseller 04:45 Sales mix vs stock mix: the 40% / 10% test 06:30 Set a realistic Christmas sales target 07:50 What do you want left on 31 December? 09:55 The balance-back calculation (the £5,000 example) 12:36 The 80/20 rule, and what to do if you have no data 15:04 Nine questions to ask before your next order **Resources mentioned** Free Get Ready for Christmas guide and planner: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/christmas Stock Doctor, my done-for-you stock management service: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/stock-doctor/ Episode 316: Christmas planning first steps: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/christmas-planning-for-independent-retailers/ Episode 317: Christmas cash flow planning: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/retail-cash-flow-planning-for-christmas/ Episode 318: Your Christmas product range: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/how-to-plan-your-christmas-product-range/ Episode 319: Christmas promotions: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast-episode/christmas-promotion-ideas-for-independent-retailers/ All episodes of the Resilient Retail Game Plan: https://www.resilientretailclub.com/podcast/ Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/catherineerdly Mentioned in this episode: **Capify**