Can you believe it's October already? We can't but with the sunshine finally gone, we are starting to accept Autumn is here. With the onset of Autumn, Christmas items start appearing in the shops and it reminded us that with hundreds of retail customers, it was time to start getting in shape for Christmas. With a likely turbulent 2011, we're really keen to ensure our customers end 2011 on a high note. With that in mind we've put a series of blogs together to help get you ready. We think there are 3 main elements to get it right - stock, marketing and customer service. Here is part one - Stock, look out for the next installments.
Decide what to stock
First things first cover the basics work out what products you need to prioritise selling around the Christmas period. Look at what stock sold well last Christmas and what did not, and if any of your newer products have been popular since then. It’s worth having the items your customers want in stock over Christmas as at this is time of year they are prepared to pay a premium to get exactly what they want. By meeting their needs customers will be less likely to buy elsewhere and you will sell more items at full cost.
It could also be worth checking out review sites, Google trends, social media sites and even your competitors to try to figure out relevant products that are creating a ‘buzz’ online. If you predict right, buying in items such as these could really drive traffic to your website and could be sold at a considerable mark-up.
Get rid of old stock
If there is stock from the previous season that is no longer relevant then you need to get rid of it to make room for stock you will want to be selling. Having a pre-Christmas sale to clear the decks before the Christmas stock comes in is one way to do this.
Pushing old items out via online marketplace channels is another good way to get rid of old stock. This gives you other channels to market and also alerts potential customers to your brand. If you serve them well at this point then they might remember you when Christmas time comes around.
Stock up
Once you have made room for some new products or more of your most popular items it’s time to stock up. Buy in the items you identified as being priorities for the Christmas period. Try to estimate based on last Christmas’s figures and your businesses statistics over the year how many of each you will sell. But make sure to be careful not to over stock to a point where you stretch your cashflow and resources too far.
Once your stock comes in it is then important to get organised. Stock needs to be logged in to your stock control system and uploaded to your website. You will need to manage this very carefully over the Christmas rush to make sure you are accurately aware of your stock levels. Selling something to a customer that you no longer have would be disastrous. Nothing will produce a bad reputation like ruining someone’s Christmas! Using integrated ecommerce and stock control software that updates both systems at the same time can help you to avoid this situation.
There you have it…
Ok so that’s the basics of getting your stock in order for the Christmas rush. By getting this ready now you will have plenty of in demand products to sell and happy customers extolling the virtues of your business in the New Year. Wait too long and you’ll struggle to get the stock you want, have no space to store it, and be left with a ton of unhappy customers who couldn’t get what they want and went elsewhere. For more information on getting the best out of your stock control system why not read our article 7 Tips For Keeping Stock Control Under Control.
Look out for Part 2 in our Getting Ready for Christmas series which is all about Marketing.
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