Christmas store staff have been specially trained to cash in on the panic-stricken Christmas Eve shopper – known as “Last Minute Man”.
He’s the hapless male who hasn’t bought a present for his wife or girlfriend and he’s left until the final minutes to find one.
Last Minute Man has been identified in a survey of Christmas shopping types by the leading Business Intelligence company, Retail Active.
The company says it has been called in to coach staff at leading retailers on how to spot him and make sure he buys something.
Julian Chamberlain, Retail Active’s managing director said: “Last Minute Man is a salesperson’s dream – he’s cash rich and time poor. He does his desperate shopping in the final hours of Christmas Eve, when there is poor stock availability and he ends up buying expensive and unwanted gifts.
“It is what’s known as a “distress purchase”, when all rationality goes out of the window.
“We have been coaching staff on the jewellery counters of a major retail chain on how to spot him and make sure he doesn’t get away without a sale.
“They have to look for a man looking through a wide variety of stock, not knowing what to buy and wearing a blank expression.
“He’s got money but no time and he will end up spending more than he has to.
“We train staff to be extra helpful, offer him a choice of gifts, make a recommendation and then close the sale. He represents an ideal sales opportunity.
“Figures show a substantial uplift in the sales of expensive items in the last couple of hours – with many purchases up to £1000.
“Our survey shows that men,(56%) were more likely than women, (34%), to wait until Christmas Eve to do their shopping.
“Of those men 1% even do their shopping in 24 hour petrol stations in the early hours of Christmas Day
“This is in stark contrast to women, who conduct an average of four outings before completing their present shopping, proving that we still revert to traditional roles, where man is the hunter and women are the gatherers.
“Last Minute Man has no list and browses haplessly from aisle to aisle before going in for the kill with a credit card.
“Often the presents are ill thought out, over expensive and with one in three being taken back for refunds in the New Year.
“Last Minute Man spends on average 15 per cent more than he needs to – because all the best value items have been sold.
“Another Last Minute Man trait is that they do “one stop shopping” by buying all their purchases in just one store.
“He shops in isolation, whereas women tend to shop together as a social event, taking in the Christmas spirit.
“Last Minute Man accounts for 63% of the high value items sold on Christmas Eve.”
Retail Active is offering some top tips to avoid being a Last Minute Man.
- 1. Go shopping earlier
- 2. Write a list
- 3. Ask family, friends and partners what they would like
- 4. Plan a party or a special treat for the time on Christmas Eve when you would normally be shopping.
- 5. Shop with your wife or partner and reward yourself when you have ticked a target number of presents off your list – but don’t forget to buy that all important gift for your nearest and dearest
The Retail Active Survey says Christmas shoppers fall into distinct types.
The Planner: Already planning next Christmas. Bought this year’s Christmas cards and presents in last year’s sales. Rejoices in delivering a luxury Christmas at a cut price.
Single Party Person: Christmas is all about them. Presents don’t figure highly. Its all about having the right wardrobe and look for the Festive Season. Christmas shops with friends and spends more on themselves than everyone else combined.
Panic Purchaser: Doesn’t know who they will get presents from – so buys for everyone just in case.
Online: Why get cold, wet and tired shopping on the High Street. Christmas comes from hyperspace – just like Santa.
Dad: Has no idea what the presents are but finds out on Christmas morning when the kids unwrap them. Mum does all the shopping – he takes full credit.
Humbug: Gives nothing – gets nothing.
Retail Active is one of the UK’s leading Customer Intelligence and Mystery Shopping companies. It sends out thousands of agents every year to monitor customer service standards for a wide variety of clients in the retail, leisure, automotive and travel sectors.
