Managing The Summer Dip

We all know that wax melt and candle sales can drop off in summer. We see peaks leading up to Christmas, reasonable sales up to Mothers Day and then a slump until late summer. A couple of factors influence this sales behaviour :

1. People tend to spend more time inside their houses during cooler months
2. Wax melts and candles make great gifts for Christmas, Valentines Day and Mothers Day

Point 1 can be backed up by customer behaviour during Covid when the majority of people stayed at home. During Covid there was no drop in wax melt and candle sales during the typically quieter months. Covid helped wax melt and candle sales reach dizzy heights which is one of the reasons why we saw lots of new makers during those strange years. Covid flattered the home fragrance market which is one of the reasons that we have seen some fragrance oil suppliers and makers close their doors since furlough ended.

The peaks & troughs of a wax melt and candle business don't have to be tolerated and can be smoothed out to some extent by widening your product offering.

As an aside, selling home fragrance products during covid was easy. All you needed to do was show your products on facebook, instagram and tiktok and you would see the sales come in. Today, an SEO optimised website presence is essential, along with a compelling reason for customers to buy your products. Our blog on USP has more detail. 

Reed diffusers and room sprays are a good way to fragrance a room without heat. Links on how to make these in this paragraph. 

Other options to increase your range are shower gel, soaps, solid shampoo and conditioner. We have some simple recipes for these and CPSR available here. What could be easier than taking solid shampoo and conditioner to the gym or on holiday, rather than bottles ? 

As makers, we saw that customers would find their favourite fragrance and want a complete set of products made with that fragrance. We didn't make cosmetics but sold plenty of room sprays, reed diffusers and car air fresheners to complete the set of a particular fragrance.

The quieter summer months also give you a time to plan. This may be planning for a new product, a new fragrance, a new service or the upcoming seasons. We see lots of customers at this time of year testing fragrance oils and wax melts for their Autumn and Winter collections. Having your Autumn / Halloween available in late August / September will get you ahead of your competition and increase sales. We use this time to test new fragrance oils for next years Spring & Summer seasons.

In summary, plan for the peaks and troughs and identify ways to smooth out