How to Prepare Your Store for a Themed Holiday: Assortment, Gift Sets, and a Work Plan

Prepare a practical plan for a themed holiday: which products to offer, how many sets to assemble, what to reorder, and who will handle each step. Decide on the size of the first batch after checking stock, budget, deliveries, and the time needed for packaging.

You can use the same process to prepare for Teacher’s Day. Choose the sales period and the date for reviewing the results. Below is a sequence of steps and a hypothetical example for a stationery and bookshop.

Gather data to choose your assortment

Compare sales of specific items during the corresponding periods in previous years. Note any unusual spikes or drops. Also record returns and the days when an item was out of stock: review this information before deciding whether to place a new order.

For each item being considered for the themed assortment, prepare:

• the number of units sold and returned during the selected period;
• the usable stock counted in a physical check;
• the number of units already promised to customers;
• the cost of the product and the required packaging;
• the quantity and delivery date confirmed by the supplier.

The owner can ask the employee responsible for stock to do the count. Ask them to record damaged goods and units already allocated to other orders separately. Use only available components when planning sets.

If there is no sales history, choose a small trial batch within the approved budget. Record its quantity as your own planning decision. Do not transfer the maximum number of possible sets into the purchasing plan without reviewing it separately.

Describe the contents of each set

Create a working set card with the name, specific item codes, quantity of each component, packaging, and selling price. Assemble one sample and check it against the card. If you change an item in the set, review the contents and cost calculation before assembling the next batch.

All figures in the table are hypothetical. Stock has already been counted, is usable, and is available for the sets. Components do not overlap between rows.

Each set also needs its own packaging. Count that too before approving the batch. If the same item code is used in several sets, allocate the available units among them in your working table.

Calculate costs and approve new payments separately

Let’s continue the hypothetical example with set A. The 20 notebooks are enough for 10 pairs, but there are only enough pens for 7 sets. If you assemble all seven and there are no other stock movements, 6 notebooks and no pens will remain. This is the assembly limit based on available goods, not a sales forecast.

Suppose one notebook costs UAH 40, one pen UAH 20, and packaging UAH 10. The cost of the listed contents of one set is: 40 + 40 + 20 + 10 = UAH 110. At a hypothetical selling price of UAH 160, the difference is UAH 50 before other expenses. It should not be called net profit.

The owner separately approves spending limits for replenishment, delivery, packaging, and advertising. Include the cost of goods already in stock in the set calculation. In the plan for new payments, record only amounts that still need to be paid.

Before placing an order, the buyer checks the required quantity, payment amount, and remaining budget limit. If you plan to hold safety stock—extra units in case a delivery is delayed—factor in daily product usage and delivery time. Do not assign the same buffer to every item without calculating it.

Assign responsibilities and make a schedule

For each step, record the person responsible, the deadline, and the status. In a small store, one person may have several roles.

1. Owner approves the assortment, budget, first batch, sales period, and review date.
2. Buyer agrees the quantity, delivery date, and order terms with the supplier.
3. Stock manager counts the available components and records how they are allocated among sets.
4. Packer assembles a sample, checks its contents, and measures the time required.
5. Cashier checks the name and price and tests the sales transaction.

Count backwards from the planned start of sales, allowing for the confirmed delivery time and the time needed for receiving, checking, and packaging. This will give you the latest date for placing the order. Before paying, check that the supplier can meet the schedule.

Use the time taken to assemble the sample to estimate how many sets an employee can prepare during the hours allocated. If the planned quantity will take longer, reduce the first batch or allocate more time and review labour costs.

Product report and set contents in Torgsoft

To review sales over a selected period, Torgsoft has a product report for a period. To view it, set the reporting period and sales time. The owner can choose relevant periods to compare and record explanations for unusual changes in the working plan.

Once the set contents are approved, when describing a set in Torgsoft, specify the quantity of each component included in one set. For set A in the hypothetical example, this is two units of the selected notebook and one unit of the selected pen.

Check the set description against the working card and assembled sample. Count the finished packages separately. The component quantities in the description of one set do not by themselves show how many sets have already been physically packed or how many the employee can prepare before sales begin.

Check readiness and review the results

Before displaying the offer in the shop window or on the website, check the contents, price, and number of finished sets. Separately record the components planned for the next batch. Check which orders the store can already fulfil and when the rest will be ready.

During the selected period, keep track of sets sold, returns, and newly assembled units. On the review date, compare the plan with the actual results:

• how many sets were sold and returned;
• how many finished packages remain;
• how many components have not yet been packed;
• the actual packaging and delivery costs;
• the amount of staff time spent.

Use these figures to decide on the next batch. Record which sets to keep in the assortment, which contents to review, and which products not to reorder yet. Save the plan and results for the next themed event.