10 tips on budgeting for your Christmas grotto

Whilst a grotto is a great way to make the most of the busy Christmas season and boost sales, it’s important to outline a budget and plan costs to make sure your event is profitable. Here are our top tips on how to make your grotto fit your budget, no matter what size it is.

1. Prepare in advance

Start looking for what you may need to purchase for your grotto in advance, this will mean you can spread the costs throughout the year.

2. Gift wrapping

Wrapping grotto presents can be time-consuming and expensive if you do it yourself – a typical cost would be 40-50p per present. So when buying presents for your grotto, why not get your supplier to wrap the presents for you; saving you time, money and hassle? (Psst. Our elves offer this service to all Keycraft customers!)

3. Buy in bulk

Buying items in larger quantities, such as food and drink supplies, decorations, or even gifts, can often give you discounted prices. Ask us about our bulk-buy options!

4. Leftover presents (excess stock)

It’s hard to know exactly how many people will turn up to your event, so overbuying is the safest bet. However, this then means you run the risk of having leftover presents. If you’re not sure if you’ll be running a grotto the following year, or don’t have anywhere to store leftover gifts, order from a supplier that offers a buy-back guarantee. (At Keycraft, we will buy back up to 10% of unsold gifts, so the only leftovers you’ll have to worry about will be from your roast dinner!)

5. Sponsorship

To maximise profits, or even help out with funding, find a sponsor for your event! This might be a local business, or even a food and drinks company.

6. Local support

You may be able to team up with local businesses to offer their products or services at your grotto, such as a bakery to supply Christmas biscuits, or a local musician to supply some themed music to play in the background. 

7. Create your own decorations

You can’t buy Christmas decorations all year, but you can make them all year! Making your own decorations may be time-consuming but it can help save money.

If you have the space to do so, why not arrange a Christmas crafting event and invite children to participate? They could then delight at having their decorations displayed for all to see.

8. Hire a costume

Instead of purchasing a costume for your Santa and elves, hiring may be cheaper. But make sure you book this early, as there will be a high demand. (Alternatively, you could hire a Santa that already has a costume).

9. Utilise free advertising

Ensure you shout about your event on your website and social media. Have email marketing being sent out? Can a message about your grotto be included since the email is already planned? Could the checkout operators tell each customer about the upcoming event? Think of ways to promote your event which is budget-friendly or even better, free!

10. Package with care

Ensure once the Christmas event has finished that all decorations, lighting, and costumes – which can be saved for next year, are packed away with care and in an orderly fashion. This will ensure they are kept in excellent condition and could be used again the following year.

Interested in learning more about how to run a Christmas grotto or make your event the best one yet? Read our Retailers Guide: How to run a Christmas grotto.