By
Bob Phibbs
Updated November 21, 2024
Retailers, it's the most wonderful time of the year—or at least the holiday season should be. So why is there an ongoing debate about whether retailers should say Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays?
While the holiday season is a joyful time for many, it is celebrated differently across cultures and beliefs. As a retailer, how you acknowledge this festive season in your store can significantly impact your customers' experiences.
Your choice of words can play a powerful role in making everyone feel valued. So, how can you strike the right balance between spreading holiday cheer and respecting the diversity of your customer base? Let’s dive into this nuanced topic.
In a diverse world, retailers must recognize the importance of creating an environment that feels welcoming and inclusive to all customers.
Now, before you think that I’m out to decry your values, you should know I’m a PK, a preacher’s kid. I come from a long line of preachers...
I sat through my dad’s sermons, sang in the choirs, and learned all the verses to almost every Christmas carol in the hymnal. I love the Christmas holiday.
If you are a devout Christian, I understand. To you, no other greeting is more necessary than Merry Christmas – Christ is your reason for the season. And if you are someone around my age, you’ve probably grown up always saying, Merry Christmas – why would you change now?
In fact, 75 percent of all Americans call themselves Christians.
So, most likely, if you say Merry Christmas, only one in four might take any offense.
But does that make it the right thing to do in your retail business?
No, I don't think so.
I conducted my own chorus for about a dozen years, and when the holiday concert came around, I was careful to include as many different types of songs as possible. I didn’t eliminate Christmas songs, but I added winter solstice, Chanukah, and Kwanza, inclusive songs that brought people together. Every year I welcomed the audience by saying, “Welcome home for the holidays” It was an inclusive greeting chosen to welcome everyone. And every year, our audience grew larger.
Every retailer wants all their customers to feel welcome whenever they enter their store.
That’s why I believe greeting customers with "Merry Christmas" 100 percent of the time excludes 25 percent of them.
You want to cater to every customer who comes in during the holiday season: those who will buy their presents with cash and those who pay credit, those who can afford the best and those who cannot, those who celebrate Christmas, and those who do not.
They’re all purple, and their money’s green.
And how should you respond if someone wishes you a Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas, or Happy Hanukkah?
Why thank you, the same to you.
In Sum
Your holiday retail sales training must instruct employees to greet everyone with "Happy Holidays." It’s not that you can never say "Merry Christmas," "Happy Hanukkah," or "Happy Kwanza." Just wait until the customer has given you a clue about what they celebrate.
To increase holiday retail sales, you want to attract as wide an audience as possible wherever you hold a shop.
Happy Holidays is still the best greeting for retail store employees to greet all customers. Make sure to include that training in your holiday preparations.
Of course, if you choose to do otherwise, that's your choice.
