Your main concern is to turn your inventory into cash. While there are many ingredients for successful retailing, price is probably the most important influence on consumer buying, and you will sell your merchandise in direct proportion to the savings you pass on to your customers. Merchandise is not like fine wine; it does not get better with age. Be aggressive when pricing slow-moving merchandise.
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Direct mail
If you want to boost sales while you drive down costs, you should be using direct mail. Direct mail is one of the most targeted, measurable, and cost-effective ways to sell your products and services.
You deliver your message directly into the hands of a specific individual.You never have to guess about the results. When you track your responses, you build an information base of good customers that have demonstrated a need for your products or services. You control your marketing efforts by assuring that your message will be received by the right person at the right time.
By sending your customers special sale announcements, you are creating new opportunities for your customers to buy. You've told them they're special, you're assisting them to re-start their buying relationship with you, and you're presenting them with more opportunities to buy.
To receive optimal response from your mailer, consider the appeal of your message, its sense of urgency, and of course, the quality and size of your mailing list. Your mailer should be distinctive and directed to a qualified, selected audience.
It is important to mail the sale announcements First-Class. Bulk mail may cost less, but it is not reliable and may not get to the customer in time. Timing is everything.
Direct Mail Is Cost Effective
At a cost of about 40 cents a letter (stamp, envelope, announcement), you'll spend around $400 on a First-Class letter mailing to 1,000 names. If 2% respond and make an average purchase of $20, you'll gross $400 -- the amount of your marketing outlay. |
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Newspaper
This is a valuable medium for your sale campaign. Ads can be placed and changed on relatively short notice allowing you to design a last-minute ad as your sale goes through its different phases. You can adjust percentages, stock selection, and other special points as the sale procedes.
Based on responses from most communities, Sunday is the best day to advertise, followed by Tuesday and Friday. Sundays have the highest readership because people are relaxed and have extra time. Tuesday is normally a slow day, giving ads more prominence. Friday is also good because consumers are planning weekend activities, home improvements, and shopping activities.
When you contact a newspaper, be prepared to give the ad department the following information:
- Your store logo and address
- The type of sale
- Starting date of sale
- Categories offered
- Markdown percentages
An effective ad is hard-hitting and easily recognizable. It should have a dominant headline, use white space well, clearly state percentages or range of prices, and create customer urgency.
A good ad can run over and over again, until you become bored with it. It can also be reprinted and used as fliers, hand-outs, mailers or even enlarged and used as a poster. Your ad may be entertaining, it may be informative, and it may keep your name before the public, but its primary purpose is to bring customers into your store. Remember, the objective of your advertising is to sell!
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Radio and Television
Radio and television gives you flexibility, the ability to do target marketing, and the opportunity to provide an "Act Now" urgency.
To write a great script, you should:
- Mention your store name at least three times
- Make the message urgent
- Offer a bargain
- Develop a slogan
- Describe your merchandise
- Don't use too many words
Check the stations for rates according to time slot, and compare the stations' demographics with your customer profile.
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High-Impact Signage
The purpose of your SALE signs is to attract attention and convey the feeling of an exciting and vibrant sale event from start to finish. The more signs you use, the more your store will appear to be different and attract new customers.
Your signs should be attention-getting and to the point.
Signs are an important part of the customers' perception of values. They can significantly change your store image, enhance the values of your merchandise, and increase the average sale transaction.
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Merchandising Techniques
When arranging your store for the sale event, pay attention to details:
- For the duration of your sale, watch for slow-moving categories.
- Change the displays and take immediate markdowns if there seems to be little interest in a particular area.
- All merchandise must be made accessible for the customers to see, touch, and smell if necessary. Items behind the counter are difficult to sell.
- Arrange your merchandise by size and categories. It is important that customers can easily find their size without wasting time.
- Don't make customers play the stupid retail game "find the price" on each and every sales tag. Similarly, don't have two or three price tags wrapped together showing different prices.
Throughout the sale it is important that customers do not think the "best" items have already been sold. All racks and display fixtures must always appear to be as full as possible. Put any empty racks into storage areas.
Be creative. The greater the hype and selection, the more customers will pay for your goods. Keep moving stock toward the front to make it more convenient for customers to buy.
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Inventory Recommendations
If you need to buy additional merchandise for the sale, keep this in mind: the first week will have the largest customer impact. These are the "Big Volume Days," so be sure your store is fully stocked for the opening.
While still in-season, off-price merchandise can be in high demand. Don't expect your suppliers to volunteer it; you'll have to ask what they have. If you drop the hint that you have an open-to-buy for immediate goods, you will probably discover some desirable merchandise.
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Bob Nelson is the president of Power Retailing, (1-800-399-1980), a professional retail consulting service in Phoenix. The company works with small- to medium-size retailers who have seen mass merchandisers enter their communities, and his area of specialization is the apparel business. As a "retail survival consultant," Nelson works with stores to generate more traffic and a higher volume of sales.
