Winter sale. How to competently conduct a seasonal sale?
Elena Vinogradova -
Elena Vinogradova, expert in purchasing and sales in the fashion business, more than 20 years of experience in the fashion industry from buyer to commercial director of a retail chain of 30 stores, retail consultant, business coach, speaker at industry conferences.
Competent sale is a phased event.
The first half of January, taking into account the long New Year holidays, growth in consumer flow and demand, does not always require deep discounting. But at the end of January and the beginning of February, the final stage of the seasonal sale begins, the time when it is possible and necessary to sell out the remaining goods.
During this off-season, business owners face similar problems:
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embossed size rows;
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an increase in the share of low-liquid or illiquid assortment in the store’s collection, since the running positions were sold primarily without discounts, or at the first stages of the sale;
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insufficient filling of the trading floor with goods, emptiness on shelves and display cases;
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uneven layout;
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the despondency of the staff, who, by their own conviction, "has absolutely nothing to trade."
All this can create the impression of an unattractive collection, limited choice and, as a result, a natural reaction to the lack of a choice “Yes, there is nothing here!”.
What to do to smooth out the drop in sales in the second half of January - early February?
1. Properly plan the stages of the sale and the amount of discounts. 2-3 weeks - adequate duration of the advertising message in the modern market. Change the conditions if you see a drop in flow and a decrease in customer interest. But that doesn’t mean “discounts are more”, it means “work differently”. A different message, stock submission, a more detailed analysis of the range within the collection.
2. Analyze the activity of competitors. Monitoring frequency - at least 1 once a week. You should know the maximum about them: the message and the mechanics of their shares, the size of the discounts and the assortment they apply to; Do other players deepen discounts on specific products; what is the dynamics of sales of nearby competitors - a drop or growth, and how does this compare with your dynamics.
3. Work with visual merchandising. Rotate the assortment regularly in the hall to avoid getting used to the buyer and show him the collection in an unusual way. For example, there was a calculation on the size of the discounts - 30%, 40%, 50%, and now make a dimensioned presentation - separately 36, 37, 38 and so on. This technique is especially good when the assortment in the hall is obviously not enough and can increase the store occupancy in the eyes of the buyer. Or group the assortment by price level - “all by 2500”, “all by 5790”. The calculation with the lower price threshold - “Shoes from 1990 rubles” also works well.
4. Take the example from the premium and luxury segment and exhibit the new collection as early as possible. An obvious plus: you will accustom your customers going to discounts to a new assortment earlier than other players in your segment. “Watch” your client and thereby stimulate sales of the new season. Another plus is that purchases of the new collection in January-early February have a positive effect on sales margins, which are traditionally low during off-season due to deep mass discounts.
5. Add the demi-season assortment gradually: if there is no new collection, get what remains of the fall. Pay attention to pricing: analyze the balances by article in order to decide on the feasibility of discounts and their size.
6. Your active actions will inevitably affect the staff: jointly work out the assortment, organize contests between stores, conduct spot trainings, organize the preparation of the team for the new season: the January-February lull is the perfect time for this.
There is no one sure-fire recipe for sales growth at the end of the season, since the situation with balances and new supplies is very different in each company. From my own experience, I can say that a combination of the above techniques is a more flexible, reliable and efficient option than choosing one solution. Especially such as banal and unprofitable for business deepening discounts.
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