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Retailers urged to prepare for Christmas

Failure to handle the seasonal spike in customer service demand during the busy Christmas period could leave retailers seriously out of pocket, it has been warned.

Customer interaction software provider Eptica said traders need to prepare now for the festive season or pay later.

The firm said customer service demand can increase by as much as 400 per cent on the run up to Christmas.

Retailers unable to cope with this could miss out on the opportunity to boost their saes by five per cent or more, it claimed.

Eptica also pointed out that this Christmas could be a particularly busy once, as consumers will be rushing to buy large items before the VAT hike comes into force in 2011.

"We strongly recommend retailers take time to review their systems and take action now so that they have ample time to bed in new systems ahead of the Christmas sales surge," said Dee Roche, European marketing director at the firm.

VAT is due to rise to 20 per cent, from the current level of 17.5 per cent, on January 4th next year.
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