Six types of Christmas shoppers

The six types of Christmas shoppers you must always be prepared for:

Waldo the wanderer - Waldo has no idea what he wants to buy anyone, he wanders around the shops aimlessly hoping that gifts will jump out at him but they never do. Sometimes he shops for hours and still only manages to return home with a novelty mug. He gets very stressed that Festive shopping has to be so difficult and would pay good money for a personal shopper to do the work for him.

You can help all the Waldos this Christmas by putting together a gift list of Christmas ideas for all the different people they have to buy for e.g. perfect for dad etc. Have display posters of these around the store and post the lists for your employees to see so they can offer advice when serving these types of customers. Oplift Engage means you can post these as on-hand searchable articles so staff can look at them any time, anywhere.

Lizzie the list maker - Lizzie walks into the shopping centre and she means business. She knows exactly what she wants and will not steer away from the items on her list. The great thing about list shoppers is that they aren't as fussy about price, as they just want to tick the item off. This is a great opportunity to ask what else they have on their list and see if you can supply them with those items as well. You must keep in mind that Lizzie is precious about her time as she has many other items to get, so don't chat, just get to the point.

To make sure your staff are great at up-selling you must do regular training so that all staff know your products and never miss an opportunity. Albert is what Virgin Media use to quiz and train their staff every day, find out more about their bespoke training game built with Oplift Extend.

Rudolf the repeat offender - Rudolf finds himself at the shops more than he would like. One week he gets his granddad's present but forgets his card, the next he gets his girlfriend another present but forgets his mum's gift. He is constantly back and forth picking up forgotten items. Rudolf needs reminding so put things like wrapping paper, cards, sticky tape and chocolates by the till. Let him know about your online services so that if he does forget anything he can just order it online, or if it's a bit too close to Christmas you could offer click and collect. Put lots of displays around which remind him of relatives he needs to buy for.

Imogen the impulse buyer - Imogen loves Christmas shopping. She walks into a store and suddenly thinks of extra people to buy for who would love the slippers or the dancing Santa hat she's just seen. Imogen is easily persuaded and could go into a store to buy one thing but come out with ten items. Make sure you put well-positioned displays near the counter and queuing area so that she can't resist buying just one more thing.

Last minute Lucy - Lucy hits the shops just a few days before the 25th of December, she is desperate to get all of her gifts on the same day as her time is running low. Similar to Waldo the Wanderer, they would rather someone else did their shopping for them and are very susceptible to deals as the more they can get the better. They are quite impatient as time is not on their side, always offer gift wrapping to this shopper as they are unlikely to have much time left to wrap all their gifts. Any shortcut for them will be much appreciated.

Make special offers and best-selling items very visible at the front of your store, this will take the guess-work out for them and speed up their buying process. Oplift Engage's banner feature means you can showcase the top deals of the day and store staff can update your POS accordingly.

Barry the bargain hunter - Similar to Imogen, they like Christmas shopping, however, this is because they enjoy the thrill of finding a good deal. Barry will buy extra items that perhaps he doesn't need, just because they are a good price. They are  easily persuaded so it is a good idea to put all of your great deals and offers together and make sure they are at eye level to catch the bargain hunter's attention first. Keep a close eye on your competitors and see if you can beat their pricing on certain items. Then you can write notes on price tags such as "lowest price guarantee", which is a sign all bargain lovers love to see.