After a traumatic 2020, things have been more positive for butchers in 2021. Customers have continued to shop locally, and an ease in coronavirus restrictions for most of the year has meant the high street has been much busier. With customers now fully embracing the Christmas spirit and looking to make up for lost time, Christmas 2021 looks set to be busier and better than ever before. As a result, it’s time for butchers to start getting prepared for a busy festive season. Here, we explain how upgrading your butchers machinery, allowing pre-orders and rearranging your store can help you boost your efficiency.

Make sure your equipment is up to the task

To work efficiently, you also need to work quickly. So, before you start doing all your Christmas prep, make sure all of your butchers machinery is up-to-date and functioning correctly. After all, when functioning at their best, bandsaws, slicers and sausage fillers can all increase your productivity and efficiency, helping you fulfil more orders.

If you’re happy that all your heavy duty machinery is performing at its best, then check your knives, too. If your butchers knives haven’t been sharpened correctly, it will be difficult for you to cut your meat and you’ll lose efficiency as a result.

Consider pre-orders

After most customers missed out on their usual Christmas gatherings last year, many people are planning for this Christmas earlier than ever. However, the spike in customer demand is likely to be slightly less predictable than usual due to coronavirus, so you need to make sure you’re pre-stocked with the essentials ahead of time.

Steak in butchers window

To make sure you’re accurately meeting the demand of your regulars, consider allowing them to pre-order the meat they need for Christmas. This way, you can guarantee their custom, ensure you’re ordering the right items and eliminate waste.

If you have an established digital presence, then you could also consider offering click and collect and doorstep deliveries, too.

Create a logical flow

With new coronavirus restrictions now taking effect, customer safety should be your priority. After all, if you haven’t taken all the possible precautions, then customers are less likely to step foot in your store.

We’ve written before about how butchers shops are changing to stay safe, so we won’t go into great deal here, but it’s important to emphasise that you need to provide as much space as possible for social distancing, offer hand sanitising stations and ensure staff are wearing masks.

But although safety is important, it’s also not the only factor you should consider. To make your shop as efficient as possible, make sure that your window displays are enticing and your popular items are easy for your staff to reach. For example, although you’ll want big displays of burgers and chicken wings front and centre in the summer, sausages, bacon and other cuts of beef will be more popular at Christmas. By making these items easy to reach, you’ll save queues. If you have the capacity, pre-bagging and pricing these items is even better. This way, you can work your way through customers in seconds and really keep that line moving.

These are just a couple of examples of how you can boost the efficiency of your butchers shop this winter, but you know your store and your customers better than anyone – so we’ll leave the specifics up to you! However, if you’re looking to replace any of your butchers machinery in time for the festive season, then you’re in the right place.

Here at Butchers Equipment Warehouse, we stock a wide range of butchers machinery, including grinders, meat slicers and tenderisers, as well as a number of spares and consumables. If you’re looking for something in particular, don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01254 427 761 or email us on [email protected], and we’ll gladly see how we can help!