While being conservative is usually a sensible option, when it comes to stocking up for the holidays, it might not be so. Holiday shoppers tend to be low on time and high on impulse, so if you do not have what they seek when they are in your shop, you might miss out on the sale entirely. Holiday shoppers can be fickle so you have to be prepared to strike when the iron is hot!

Bulk up early on popular tea ware items such as infusers, mugs with infusers and gravity style teapots. These don’t age and can be sold well past the holiday season. The latter is true of classic teas and non-seasonal blends.

Seasonal blends can be stocked up as well but have a post-holiday clearance strategy for any leftovers. That week after Christmas is great for clearing older stock at a discount.

At the very least, if you are super sensitive to overstock, have a plan to capture the sale while you have the customer in your store and ship the product to them once you get it from your vendor. This way you have taken care of the client, secured the sale and can make the most out of your holiday traffic.