Independent retailers are the heart of our high streets, and the festive season is your time to thrive.
This simple guide is designed to help you make the most of it, offering practical advice to boost sales, support your staff, and overcome seasonal challenges.
You’ll learn how to engage customers, simplify payments, strengthen security, grow online sales, and reduce retail crime - all designed to help your business sparkle this season.
- Optimise your staff - 7 ways to support and sustain high-performing retail team members
- Create a mood for spending - 5 ways music can boost shopper engagement and sales
- Offer easy ways to pay - Cash, contactless, or digital? Preparing for festive payment trends
- Prep to avoid unnecessary distractions - Safeguard stock, staff, and sales this season
- Take care of your online shoppers - Prepare your e-commerce for early holiday customers
- Get ahead of retail crime - Protect your shop from theft during the busiest months
- Download the checklist - Get a downloadable checklist to make the most of the Christmas rush!
A retail or high street business that employs staff will depend on high performers – those who consistently exceed expectations and share the vision of your business.
Yet their strengths can make them vulnerable to burnout, disengagement, or disruption. The challenge for business owners is not just retaining them, but helping them thrive.
Bira Legal knows sustainable success requires deliberate, people-focused management. Recognition alone isn’t enough; high achievers need engagement, wellbeing protection, and fairness.
Support them by:
- Avoiding performance punishment – acknowledge and reward extra effort transparently.
- Engaging through partnership – co-design career paths that align individual goals with business needs.
- Providing meaningful recognition – ensure rewards are fair, consistent, and visible.
- Protecting wellbeing – monitor workloads and normalise rest and support.
- Addressing imposter syndrome – use mentoring and constructive feedback to build confidence.
- Maintaining standards – manage conduct consistently.
- Embedding systems – create frameworks for performance, development, and recognition.
With thoughtful leadership, high performers remain motivated, confident, and committed.
The Golden Quarter – the critical run-up to Christmas – can define a retailer’s annual success.
With footfall high and competition fierce, every aspect of the in-store experience matters, including background music.
- Creates Atmosphere and Festive Emotion: Music sets the tone, makes customers feel welcome, and encourages them to linger, increasing purchase likelihood.
- Influences Shopper Behaviour: A carefully chosen soundtrack creates comfort, masks background noise, and subtly extends browsing time, boosting sales.
- Reinforces Brand Identity: Playlists reflecting a store’s personality – from classical carols in premium stores to upbeat tracks in fashion outlets – strengthen brand recall and differentiation.
- Improves Staff Morale and Service Quality: Music keeps teams motivated during busy trading days, leading to better service and higher sales conversions.
- Cost-Effective and Flexible: Using royalty-free music or thoughtfully curated playlists allows retailers to enhance the experience without high licensing costs.
Background music transforms stores into inviting, memorable spaces that support both sales and customer loyalty.
Based on a survey of 2000 participants, takepayments found that 54% of UK shoppers say contactless is their favourite way to pay in-store, with speed and convenience being the most important value for these customers.
6% even went as far saying they wouldn’t buy from a store that didn’t offer digital payment options, with the 18-24 year old category the most likely to walk out of cash-only businesses.
Is cash making a comeback?
However, there appears to be a small shift starting to happen. While contactless has remained the top choice in the last few years they’ve been conducting this research, cash has started to see some positive movement. In-store preference for cash has grown by 26% year on year, pushing it ahead of mobile wallets to become the second most popular way to pay.
41% said cash helps them stick to a budget, a particularly important consideration as this time of year can be expensive for many.
What about online shopping?
takepayments found that 65% chose online payment methods as their favourite way to pay because it’s quick and easy to do.
When looking at users shopping online, 17% preferred mobile wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and 14% chose digital wallets like PayPal and Amazon Pay.
Security played a key role in consumers shopping online, with 72% saying they look for the Verified by Visa or Mastercard SecureCode symbol before going ahead with their purchase. As many as 41% said they also look for the padlock symbol in the browser’s URL, indicating that it’s a secure payment gateway.
Key takeaways
The biggest takeaway from takepayments’ research is the diverse ways consumers are looking to pay, emphasising the need to offer them choice. Age and gender also play a role in purchasing behaviour, and something to consider when you look at who your target market is. Making sure that you can cater to your customer base can help you be prepared and get those sales in.
It would also be wise to align yourself with what your customers value, such as visible signs of security. Displaying trusted security symbols in-store and online, and ensuring the checkout process uses secure payment gateways can help build customer trust.
Stay ahead of customer preferences with the latest payment tech that lets customers pay by contactless, digital wallets or cash with ease. For online payments, they can offer even more payment options like secure payment gateways and Pay by Link. Regardless of how your customers choose to pay, they make sure it's fast and easy.
The final quarter is golden for retailers — but it comes with unique challenges.
From stock surges and temp staff to winter weather and online spikes, preparation is key. Bira Insurance offers practical advice to keep your business safe
1. Managing Seasonal Stock
- Review stock cover limits for extra seasonal or high-value items.
- Document stock with photos/receipts.
- Store safely: avoid blocked exits, locked displays for valuables.
2. Cold Weather Protection
- Insulate pipes, maintain heating, grit entrances.
- Check roofs and gutters for blockages.
3. Seasonal Staff Safety
- Add temps to Employer’s Liability cover.
- Provide basic health & safety induction.
- Assign clear responsibilities in higher-risk areas.
4. Cyber Protection
- Use SSL, firewalls, 2FA, staff training, and backups.
5. Business Interruption
- Plan for temporary trading, backup suppliers, and data continuity.
6. In-Store Safety
- Keep walkways clear
- Test emergency systems
- Display hazards clearly.
Online shopping continues to grow, and if you run an ecommerce site alongside your physical store, now is the time to optimise it.
Surprisingly, November—not December—is the peak month for online spending, while high streets get busy closer to Christmas. Savvy shoppers start as early as October, so your business needs to be visible and ready.
While SEO is valuable for long-term growth, faster strategies are essential as the year-end approaches. To get results quickly, consider these actions:
- Ensure Google Tag Manager is set up correctly for your marketing campaigns.
- Analyse last year’s Google Analytics data to identify what worked and what didn’t.
- Implement strategies to incentivise customers to return, such as promotions, loyalty rewards, or email follow-ups.
Preparing now helps your business capture early-season shoppers and maximise online sales during the critical holiday months.
The golden quarter (October–December) is your busiest period — but also the riskiest for shoplifting.
In 2024, over 516,000 shoplifting offences were recorded in England and Wales, costing retailers nearly 5% of turnover plus hidden costs like staff stress, CCTV reviews, and lost sales from locked cabinets. To protect your business:
Assess your current security
- Check if exit-only alarms are effective — they often alert too late
- Review tagging procedures — magnets can bypass standard tags
- Ensure CCTV coverage is practical and staff can respond efficiently
Focus on high-risk products
- Alcohol, toys, premium tools, branded clothing, and baby formula are prime targets
Train and empower your staff:
- Increase awareness
- Assign monitoring responsibilities
- Establish clear protocols for suspected theft
By targeting your resources strategically and improving staff vigilance, you can reduce theft, protect profits, and maintain a safe, customer-friendly environment during the golden quarter.
From motivating your top staff and delighting shoppers to securing your store and streamlining payments, every step counts. Make this golden quarter your most successful yet and grab all the essential tips in our downloadable key takeaways.
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