Independent Retailer Trends 2026: Plan Christmas Now

About this episode

Catherine Erdly discusses the importance of early Christmas planning with guest Hannah Bartlett, highlighting consumer research trends and marketing strategies for independent retailers.

The shoppers who start researching Christmas earliest are also the ones who spend the most — and most retailers are invisible during exactly that window. Hi, I'm retail strategist and founder of Resilient Retail Club , Catherine Erdly . If you think July is far too early to be thinking about Christmas, this episode will change your mind. I sat down with Hannah Bartlett — founder of Jolly Festive and The Christmas Insider — to unpack why the shoppers who start researching Christmas earliest are also the ones who go on to spend the most, and why that completely changes how you should be building towards your peak season. Here's the trap most independent retailers fall into: they treat the research window and the purchase window as the same job. Right now, around 60% of shoppers are quietly building their Christmas shortlists — and holding off on actually buying until November. If you only show up when people are ready to pay, you've already missed the moment that decides where their money goes. That window is your opportunity, not your problem — but only if you know how to be in it. Hannah has distilled her forecasting into six emotional needs and four distinct aesthetic directions…

People in this episode

Host: Catherine Erdly

Guest: Hannah Bartlett

Topics covered

• independent retail
• Christmas planning
• consumer behavior
• marketing strategy
• seasonal trends

Keywords

• Christmas 2026
• retail strategy
• consumer research
• independent retailers
• marketing planning

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Resilient Retail Club, Jolly Festive, The Christmas Insider

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