Whether you love it or dread it, Christmas is quickly on the way. For brands, it’s the most important time of the year.
Shoppers are planning carefully, seeking ways to make the season special without overspending. For brands, the festive period brings both opportunity and pressure, with heightened demand, fierce competition, and a strong appetite for value. Brands that stay visible, adaptable, and focused on delivering seamless, enjoyable experiences will reap the rewards, while those who don’t risk losing out on a share of the all-important festive spend.
In this blog, we share 5 expert field marketing tips to help brands navigate the Christmas period and turn holiday challenges into a successful seasonal strategy.
Key Christmas Shopping Insights
- UK Christmas sales in 2024 were forecast to reach ÂŁ88 billion, up by more than ÂŁ3 billion from the year before.
- Early shopping is now the norm: over half of UK consumers start their holiday shopping before December, spreading costs over time.
- For Christmas 2025, 40% of UK consumers plan to spend the same as last year, while 20% expect to spend more.
- Promotions drive decisions: 70% of Christmas shoppers change their minds based on offers, while two-thirds spend more than planned when influenced by point-of-purchase (POP) displays.
- Grocery remains a dominant category, with households stocking up on festive staples and treats.
- Shopping journeys remain polarised, with consumers dividing spend across multiple brands in search of the best value and convenience.
What does this mean? Competition is fierce, shoppers are savvy, and execution matters more than ever. To capture share of wallet, brands need to avoid common pitfalls and lean into proven festive strategies.
5 Common Christmas Marketing Challenges and Expert Tips for Brands
The festive season is one of the busiest and most competitive times of the year for brands. Shoppers are more selective, campaigns are everywhere, and small mistakes can have a big impact on sales and brand perception. Understanding the common challenges and having a clear plan to address them is key to making the most of this critical period.
1. Stockouts and Supply Chain Issues
Empty shelves and delayed deliveries are every brand’s Christmas nightmare. With demand peaking, stockouts, poor forecasting, or supply chain delays can quickly cost sales and harm customer loyalty.
Solution: Use data-driven forecasting and real-time reporting to stay ahead of stock issues. Field marketing teams can monitor stock levels in-store, flag supply chain delays, and communicate directly with HQ to resolve problems before they impact sales.
Our field marketing teams act as a bridge between stores and supply chains, tracking stock availability, identifying potential issues early, and coordinating replenishment in real time. This ensures shelves stay full, promotions run smoothly, and sales opportunities aren’t missed during the busiest time of the year.
2. Oversaturated Market
Christmas is the most competitive time of the year. Promotions are everywhere, making it harder for shoppers to notice and remember your brand.
Solution: Differentiate with standout POS, engaging displays, and targeted promotions. Using brand ambassadors or seasonal sampling campaigns can help your products cut through the noise and win impulse sales.
With the combined strength of Dee Set, our teams design eye-catching in-store displays, run seasonal sampling campaigns, and deploy brand ambassadors who bring your products to life. This ensures your brand cuts through the festive clutter, captures attention, and drives sales.
3. Early Shoppers
More than half of shoppers now start buying before December, but many brands still backload activity into late November or December. This risks missing out on weeks of potential spend.
Solution: Launch seasonal campaigns earlier. Tease promotions in November, introduce loyalty-exclusive offers, and ensure Christmas ranges are merchandised ahead of time.
We support brands in executing early and consistent campaigns across multiple stores. Our dedicated field marketing teams ensure that in-store displays, POS materials, and seasonal ranges are set up ahead of time, allowing your brand to be visible and accessible to early shoppers. This proactive approach helps capture sales early in the season and maximises shopper impact.
4. Messy or Inconsistent Displays
Even the best offers fall flat if shelves are untidy, signage is missing, or displays are inconsistent across locations. A poor in-store experience can weaken brand perception.
Solution: Deploy field teams to audit, tidy, and maintain displays. Consistency across all stores builds shopper trust and ensures campaigns look as strong in reality as they did in planning.
Our field marketing teams audit stores, check POS and displays, and maintain consistent retail merchandising across every location. This ensures campaigns look polished, on-brand, and deliver maximum impact to shoppers.
5. Staffing Shortages
With seasonal peaks, stores often struggle to maintain adequate staff levels. The result? Slower service, poor execution of promotions, and missed upsell opportunities.
Solution: Supplement store staff with trained brand ambassadors who can assist shoppers and ensure displays remain stocked and appealing.
Our network of full-time brand ambassadors and flexible retail merchandising teams has the expertise and commitment to support your goals every step of the way, ensuring that your brand’s message is communicated clearly and effectively to your target audience.
Christmas Doesn’t Have to Be Overwhelming
By tackling pain points head-on and investing in the right support, brands can turn challenges into opportunities. Field marketing teams act as your eyes and ears in-store, ensuring stock is visible, promotions are executed flawlessly, and every display works harder to attract shoppers.
Christmas Brand Strategies That Work with Tactical Solutions
The festive season is a race for visibility, value, and availability. To make the most of it, we are here to help. We specialise in field marketing execution, retail auditing, POS optimisation, and data-led activation.
We can help you to:
- Prepare early and act decisively to exceed shopper expectations
- Keep your stock, displays, and promotions fully aligned
- Ensure your brand is front-of-mind, on-shelf, and perfectly positioned to capture festive spend
Get in touch today and discover how we can help you turn seasonal challenges into sales success and make Christmas 2025 your strongest yet.
