Seasonal Shopping Patterns: Optimising Your Retail Calendar
Yesterday, I saw a post on social media (I’ll spare the source – no need to expose my doomscrolling platform of choice) that gave me pause. Someone had discovered and bought a Christmas-themed bakery item. In May! They asked the shop staff what it was doing there. The reply? “They sent it, we baked it.” Fair enough.
My first reaction was, of course, jealousy: who wouldn’t want a delicious festive treat on a rainy May bank holiday? But once I got over my craving, it got me thinking about a real challenge that brands face every year: how to plan, test, and launch seasonal products in a way that actually works.
We always say: don’t test products at Christmas. And for good reason. December is a high-pressure month for most people, so their spending patterns are completely different to any other time of year. Shoppers are more impulsive, less price-sensitive, and often shopping for others rather than themselves. It’s not the time for thoughtful feedback. That means any research or testing done in the thick of it often ends up skewed or overly positive.
But Christmas products might just be the exception to that rule. After all, these products are designed to be sold in that slightly chaotic, emotionally charged environment. What good is a glowing review in August if your latest seasonal creation gets lost in the Christmas crush? The key is to understand which parts of your testing need to happen outside the season, and which parts really benefit from the full festive treatment – perhaps via in-store trials, post-purchase surveys, or light-touch research during the shopping period.
At Pegasus, we’ve worked with brands across sectors to navigate exactly these kinds of dilemmas – whether that’s building research that truly reflects behaviour, or helping teams launch new products with confidence. We know that timing, context and consumer mindset matter just as much as the product itself.
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So if you’re planning your next launch (or wondering when not to test it), we can help you get it right.
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