Sales promotion. Are there only sales?

The first sales (or sales in English) began in Europe from the end of the 18th century, and in Russia from the beginning of the 19th century. Everywhere they pursued one goal: shopkeepers sought to sell stale goods. Since then, little has changed. In most modern stores, sales are arranged for the same purpose - to get rid of "stocks." Galina Kravchenko, the leading consultant of FCG, talks about how to properly organize sales in shoe stores, what can interest the buyer and set him up for a purchase.

To sell the entire seasonal collection without a trace is almost impossible. You can store goods in the form of inventories in a warehouse, you can continue to offer balances to customers in the hope that someday they will buy something. Both that and another way lead to material losses:

• warehouse space disappears;
• working capital is frozen;
• Visitors, noting that the range is not updated, stop coming to the store.

In international practice, they believe that it is better to sell "stocks" at a discount of 50% than to completely lose the money invested in them. Footwear is a short-life product that is sold with a high trade margin, so sales are a must for a successful business. Without them, the warehouse will be overstocked.

Sales. pros

• Acceleration of turnover
• Liquidation of stocks
• Attracting New Customers
• Formation of the image of the company "with low prices" - if the company pursues this goal

Sales. Minuses

• “Blurring” of the target segment of consumers (often a problem for companies positioning themselves in the middle upper segment)
• Profit reduction per unit of output
• Temporary "overstock" of consumers - the likelihood of a decrease in the number of purchases in the future

Purpose and expediency of sales

The main goal of sales is to sell the leftovers. The main results are revenue growth, timely replenishment of cash flow (cash flow), which avoids attracting additional money. For reference - cash flow - the difference between the amounts of receipts and payments of cash of the company for a certain period of time.

But! A price reduction is only advisable if it is offset by an increase in purchases. For example, an additional price reduction in the “dead” season (for example, in the first weeks of July) may not bring the desired result. Indeed, in early July, consumer activity is falling. And those who were ready for purchases will make them at June prices. An additional discount will not increase the number of buyers or sales.

If you want to lose as little money as possible during sales, then the sale should be planned in advance, no matter how you would like to not do it. One of the most important points in planning is the choice of terms, so that the discount is the motivation for the purchase.

Selecting dates will help keeping statistics that take into account sales by seasonal groups.

Shoe specificity takes into account several groups: summer, all-weather, demi-season (spring-autumn), winter. For each of them, you should plan your dates for the sale. Sales promotions are more logical to start before the expected recessions.

In the spring-summer season in the Central region of Russia, the peak sales of the Spring-Autumn group fall in mid-March and can last until mid-April. The duration of the high sales season depends on the weather of each particular season, but an analysis of statistics over several years allows us to determine the periods of maximum and minimum sales for each company, as well as to suggest a “temporary corridor” of a possible decline in sales.

By the way, at the time of the decline in sales of spring-autumn shoes, there is a peak in sales of all-season shoes. There is a consumer interest in buying shoes at the end of March and the beginning of April, therefore it is advisable to start the spring-autumn shoe sales promotion campaigns at the beginning of sales growth for the all-season shoe group. Be sure to understand that sales promotion should be targeted. For stimulation, it is necessary to single out only those models according to which residues are assumed.

Sales promotions

Sales are just part of a wide range of promotions.

Sales promotions can be price or non-price.

In the case of non-price incentives, the buyer is offered an additional benefit to the purchase, or as during the BTL campaigns, additional attention is attracted. These promotions can serve for long-term promotion of the brand image, increase brand knowledge and increase the number of loyal customers.

Example of non-price incentive stocks:

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• Contests, lotteries and prize draws
• Movie tickets from movie theaters
• BTL stimulation

Price stimulus shares directly indicate the buyer's benefit from the price.

Options for stock price stimulation:

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• Discounts
• Buy two pairs - get a third as a gift
• Gifts for purchase

Promotions of sales promotion are best carried out in the second half of the season in several stages.

The practice of price action shows that there is no single recipe for success. The conditions and terms of their implementation depend on the characteristics of each particular business. First of all, from financial indicators. We can definitely say that a price reduction of less than 30% is not an incentive to visit a store. However, such a price reduction, if accompanied by window dressing and the attachment of special price tags, that is, visual highlighting of models, becomes an advertising incentive. Changing the elements of visual merchandising allows you to draw the attention of the buyer to the store.

Recently, you can see the action "All for the same price." For example, "All shoes at 1500 rubles." Such approaches are effectively used as measures that equalize the price in the first half of the season. On the one hand, you draw attention to models whose sales are less than planned. On the other hand, you have the opportunity to reduce the price by less than 30%, but at the same time show the buyer an attractive price.

Another example of the use of such promotions is special promo collections. Initially, the price is 1500 rub. implies a targeted margin, often not underestimated. At the same time, in the first half of the season in the store a category of goods appears at an attractive - low price, and such a product makes it possible to highlight in the hall a special area decorated with POS materials. And also to promote the event in the windows. For the buyer, the illusion is created that prices are lower, while the company respects its financial interests.

Case Study: Price Incentive Planning Example

Company Description:

Type of business: retail multi-brand

Store format: 100 sq. m

Assortment: women's shoes, accessories, shoe cosmetics

Advertising

Advertising of Business Global Expo LLC, Taxpayer Identification Number (INN) 7710961530, erid: 2W5zFJRB7Va

Range of products: more than 500 models

Price segment: medium (3000-5000 rubles per pair)

Regions in which the company's stores are represented: Central, North-West, South.

An example of building a chart of marketing campaigns:

• The graph shows an example of stock planning according to the ruble statistics of company sales.
• The start of the stock is planned before the peak of sales.
• In the spring-summer period, it is important to interest the buyer before the May holidays, as in shoe practice after May weekends sales decrease every year
• To support buying interest, three price action plans are planned. The number of shares is justified by the trend of sales.

Effective Tools Used to Drive Sales

The minimum set of marketing communications used to conduct sales promotion campaigns is visual merchandising and direct sales.

A distinctive and amazing feature of Russian shoe stores is the limited use of visual merchandising.

The main reason for this paradox is that companies do not work with the structure of their assortment, they do not have a clear classifier, there are no rigid proportions of different groups in the assortment, and there is no logic for laying out different product groups on the trading floor.

As a result, the chaos in the assortment becomes chaos squared on the shelves in the store. Naturally, this is reflected in sales in the most destructive way. Therefore, when planning sales, you should think ahead of time about the assortment system, at least, prescribe a product classifier.

Merchandising tools are not limited to POS materials, window dressing and interior design. Most of these tools are most directly related to the assortment policy: space planning, zoning of the sales area, trade equipment, product layout.

But, even without a comprehensive system of visual merchandising, each shoe store can use at least some tools to quickly reduce balances this season:

• layout of the collection;
• calculation;
• POS materials;
• window dressing.

Collection layout

How and where to place models during sales? For example, from the second week of March (terms are conditional, depending on the region), the company wants to highlight some models from the “spring-autumn” group with insignificant discounts. At the same time, sales for all-season shoes are growing during this period. In this case, in the first part of the hall there are shoes that are in great demand, that is, all-weather.

Stimulated spring-autumn models should be located in the second part of the hall along with all other models of their group.

We must remember two more golden rules of calculation. Bestsellers are located in the most passable places. In the immediate vicinity of the best-sellers, you can have low-liquid models, the sales rate of which is less than planned.

Visual Merchandising: Layout

The most convenient layout for buyers is the layout by functional-style groups (FSH), that is, zones with BUSINESS and SPORT shoes are highlighted on the trading floor, buyers do not have problems finding the right pair.

During sales in mass-market stores, a change in the calculation principles is possible.

Visual Merchandising: POS Materials

The retail space and equipment of shoe stores allows the use of various types of POS materials. Using navigation special posters, posters, pillars - in the store there are zones with goods whose sales stimulate. The materials themselves must be located in the area with the sales product or the promoted product.

Direct sales are a key element of shoe stores

Often, when choosing shoes, the buyer focuses on the advice of the seller. How does the seller’s work style change during the discount season? How to motivate him during this period?

There are three ways to do this:

• assortment plans;
• bonuses for the sale of certain assortment groups;
• competition between shops.

Assortment plans imply a differentiated approach to reward for sales of different assortment groups. This approach guarantees a reduction in the balance of the target groups of the assortment. However, it should be noted that the introduction of this approach implies the special capabilities of the IT system and the skills of using mathematical models to calculate staff motivation.

Bonuses for the sale of individual product groups are paid as a bonus when fulfilling sales plans for individual product groups. The frequency of bonus payments is determined by the sales period of the group of goods that they stimulate.

Competitions between stores can be aimed both at stimulating sales in general, as well as individual groups of goods.

examples:

• Competition for the best store;
• Store No. 1 according to service standards;
• Competition for the best seller.

Sales Performance Factors:

• sales promotion can be both price and non-price;
• the key to success of the action is its timely implementation;
• advance planning allows you to get the desired results;
• The most effective communication channels used to stimulate sales are visual merchandising and direct sales.

Weekly sales plan