Sale season is very difficult and important time period to make optimum sales for the retailers. Sale in India usually happens on 15 Aug, sale, 26 January, Christmas/New year, Diwali, and seasonal in winter/summer etc. For instance-- February is the best month to liquidate EOL(end of Line) A/C, LCDs & laptops. By March all new line product will hit the market.
So in order to announce sales, retailers have to make certain preparations to collect every extra rupee.
When to announce ‘seasonal sale’?
A retailer is never interested in selling the merchandise on sale. But there are certain strategies behind to collect maximum from the opportunity. Says Harkirat Singh, MD, Woodland, “There are certain slow moving inventory in the stock. We identify them and accordingly put them on sale in order to give way to the fresh stock and renew the stores.”
According to Sanjay Nayak, Project Manager, ChannelPlay,
Temporary arrangements
Every retailer has to plan properly for seasonal sales as it is time when there is sudden spurt in the sales and time period to supply is less.
Back-End preparations
Suggests Sunil Kumar, COO, Inalsa, “A retailer should ensure that he has got proper space to display all the variety of products. He should arrange for temporary staff to handle the additional traffic during this period depending on his past experience. Since, during seasonal sales, there is increase in demand and he has to keep large variety of products, he should have proper tie up with the suppliers, so that supply gaps can be minimised. Besides this, he should also arrange for additional godown space, in the vicinity of his showroom, so that deliveries to the customers can be made quickly.
Apart from this some more suggestion are given by Sanjay Nayak, Project Manager, ChannelPlay
Front-end preparations
In terms of front end preparations, the retailer should plan advertisement, depending of his budget and expected sales, in order to pull the customers to his showroom. In case he is dealing in products which requires after sales service, he should try to tie up with some agency/specialist, who can support him to do after sales service as this shall result in high customer satisfaction. The most important is that he has to arrange for additional funds to stock the goods, and also avail quantity discounts offered by various vendors.
Singh of Woodland suggests
According to Kumar, “Live demonstrations may also be arranged, through proper demonstrators. This will not only increase the footfall of the customers but also increase the conversion of customers from mere window shopping to actual buying. Besides this, if the products are properly displayed, it becomes easier for the customer to make the choice and less time of the sales staff is consumed to mature the deal.”
Cash & Staff Management
In terms of cash flow, the retailer has to arrange for short term funds either from the banks or his relatives/friends.
In order to prevent pilferages, he can either hire security staff or he can deploy CCTV cameras in his showrooms.
Elaborating on staff preparation, Sunil Kumar says, “Many youngsters are available on daily basis, who can be deployed after giving them initial training, for temporary period. It is a Win-Win position as the retailer gets manpower on a temporary basis and youngsters get additional source of income.”
Nayak of ChannelPlay unveils his ideas on cash management
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