More and more variants
Business with small doors has grown rapidly in recent years. It seemed that there was no limit to the imagination of manufacturers – until recession hit.
Photo: Emily Wabich Emily Wabich/dpa/dpa-tmn
For weeks they have been piling up in supermarkets and on the shelves of online retailers, lately with prices dropping: before December 1st, calendars with all imaginable fillers attract customers. Children are no longer the only messengers who can’t wait for Christmas Eve.
Behind the small doors you’ll also find animal feed, spice or veggie treats, even socks or your favorite couple’s stuff. Some advent calendars are called “men’s work” or “do-it-yourself” – the latter contain men’s grooming products, which you can package and label in bags after purchase – for around €50.
There are no content limits
“Advent calendars include more and more product categories,” says retail specialist Martin Fasnacht of WHU Business School in Dusseldorf. “First sweets, then groceries, toys and beauty products, and now there are also sex toys or household goods. It kept increasing,” says the economics professor from Gernsbach. “Of course, when a company sees that others are having success with it, it also thinks about what it can do. do about it.”
Thus, the consumer goods industry is exhausting what is possible and can only be counted in 24 – hardly any retail company wants to miss several weeks of advertising space in private homes and additional sales opportunities. Plus, there’s the daily opening joy: “Creating beautiful moments in which the focus is on surprising your loved ones,” is how pharmacy chain Rossmann sums up the emotional side.
Width expansion
dm competitor, for example, is offering about 40 calendars on a variety of topics and from different product ranges this year. Rossman also knows how profitable the cardboard cutouts, which previously involved only sweets, have evolved. “The diverse and innovative Advent calendars are very popular with our customers,” says Managing Director Sandra Lorenz. “We are fighting this trend by expanding the range in Rossmann stores as well as in the online store.”
The sales trend has given the increasingly large-scale business with cardboard doors another boost. It has always been pointing upwards for the past decade. According to a survey by “Lebensmittel-Zeitung”, sales of advent calendars in Germany amounted to 98 million euros in 2018; No more recent figures are available. However, Fassnacht assumes that the sales peak has now passed. “Because of the recession and reluctance to buy, the peak has already been reached,” says the retail expert.
Expectations disappointed
So the advent calendar is not a sure success. “You have to pay more these days to get people to spend money,” Fasnacht says.
With surprise, this is a thing sometimes. Especially if expectations are particularly high because of the price. “It’s not possible,” Manu complains on the Nivea homepage. Five hand creams and four body lotions in the men’s calendar at around €50, there’s more to choose from.
The situation was even worse last year for luxury brand Chanel with its calendar coming in at more than 700 euros. The fact that plastic bracelets and stickers were also hidden behind the elegant white doors caused a real bullshit storm.
New word creations are intended to increase sales
Some manufacturers are trying inspiration with new word creations. A company has launched a “beard straightening” soap which, in addition to various beard oils, naturally contains whiskey or gin and an invigorating shower gel.
Anyway, alcohol. And soon, the once-reflective-reality daily show in Advent season was no longer standing in our way. There are over 800 results on Amazon for whiskey advent calendars, and costs: sometimes in the triple digits.
More than 700 calendars for the jinn. One manufacturer is happy to say funny sayings on the bottles, such as “Long letter, short drink” or “BeGINliche Christmas”. Well, to express it with the title of the animal feed producer’s target group: the wonderful Waunachtszeit and Meownachtszeit!