As a child on Christmas day, I’d open my eyes early in the morning, wake my parents up, scuttle downstairs and tear the carefully wrapped paper on my presents to shreds.

The nostalgia induced from these cherished memories leave me feeling warm and fuzzy in the same way that a mug of mulled wine does.

I love Christmas quite simply because I see more happiness, positivity and good-will from people at this time of the year and the one thing that visually represents this are the festive decorations.

Not only do I find it important to decorate my home but also my shop.

It’s become an imperative tradition to jazz up the store with decoration and Christmas themed point of sale, as it signifies more than just celebration. It is about knowing our customers.

As they enter the store, they will acknowledge that we are respecting and celebrating a festive period that we recognise is important to them.

Coupling this with the Christmas offers and seasonal products such as ludicrously long tubes of Jaffa Cakes, it also tells customers that we are ready and prepared to be able to provide them with novelty items that might appeal to them during the holidays.

Replacing my Pound-Zone with a ‘Christmas-Corner’ halts customers in their tracks and has them eyeing these products with intrigue.

I’ll be implementing the same strategy during other popular calendar events such as Valentine’s Day,  the football world cup and Halloween.

Decoration, point of sale and seasonal products enhance a businesses brand image. It gives us the identity of being festive, fun and on trend, whilst creating a jovial atmosphere in store.

It tells customers that we understand that these events are important to them and we are here to be able to provide for them.

If we can’t do that then the next time a customer walks into our shop and wishes us “merry Christmas,” we may as well turn our back on the well-wisher, frown and mutter “Christmas? Bah humbug”

And this absence of Christmas spirit is simply not good for business.