Xmas shopping from Independents - Spread the word

My Xmas shopping has come to an abrupt halt. A combination of work, media appearances, a speed awareness course and a hideous virus which attacked and disabled my laptop has led to a distinct lack of shopping.

I have gone from smug satisfaction to a more nervous state of affairs, especially as my in laws are all coming up on 10th Dec which rather brings the deadline forwards.

However I have not been completely inactive. Whilst I have not myself bought anything I have been going out of my way to influence others towards shopping at Independent shops. This has been more successful than I could have dreamt.

If you read any marketing guide they will always advice you to predict the customer's problem and provide a solution rather than trying to sell a product.

The majority of people I know work and have children and their problem is that they want to find original gifts at a reasonable price in the time they have available.

Well, we know thats an easy problem to solve. Buy your gifts from Independent retailers!

As far as I know 17 Xmas gifts have been bought from Independents as a direct result of my nagging. Now I spend too much time wholesaling soft toys to be very sociable so just think how many gifts could be bought from Independents if we all started nagging friends and relatives?

Like a ripple effect we could influence a lot of people and once they have experienced the customer service and choice given by an Independent shop they are not going to go back.

I am still looking for a skincare range for teenage girls and any suggestions at all for teenage boys? Please comment on our Facebook page