As the months progress, SMBs may be scrambling to clear out seasonal inventory like holiday-related products or discontinued product lines. Instead of crowding your warehouse with items that are out of season, try offering special sales and promotions to push these items out the door. Clearance sales is a common tactic for inventory management, but you might want to incorporate more creative marketing campaigns to boost conversions, attract customers and deplete your warehouse of excess stock.
Progression of Promotions
Promotions or seasonal sales are a great way to maintain healthy inventory levels and lower operational costs. If your eCommerce business currently has seasonal items that you want to unload before the end of the quarter, start planning a series of sales a few months in advance. By progressively offering steeper discounts and better offers, you’ll entice shoppers to buy now before it’s too late.
Seasonal Clearance
Before running a seasonal sale, determine which items you want to phase out and perform a thorough audit of your inventory. Then, you can create a sense of urgency by advertising dwindling stock levels or a countdown to the end of the sale.
If you’re planning to run a promotion that changes progressively, consider offering just a slight discount on items as you will need to incrementally lower the prices as the initiative continues. Seasonal clearance sales are common towards the end of a season, but it’s smart to plan your initiatives in advance to meet your revenue goals and clear out any lingering inventory.
Last Chance Sale
After a week or two of your seasonal promotion, offer a last chance sale, which further encourages your consumers to act fast before the stock disappears permanently. Sending out personalized email marketing campaigns to announce your new sale is a great way to grab people’s attention. Be sure to inform your subscribers if the discount has changed and consider featuring specific items to entice consumers to browse your inventory.
Final Sale
The final sale is typically the last step in the sales progression. At this point, you can offer customers the steepest discount available in an attempt to get rid of as much of seasonal inventory as possible. Many SMBs also restrict consumers’ ability to return items since the purpose of the sale is to clean out your stock levels. Most shoppers are familiar with this type of deal, and they are receptive to the terms of the sale.
Flash Sales
Another great marketing tactic, flash sales are quick promotions only offered for a very limited time. This type of promotion creates a buzz around the featured items and encourage shoppers to take advantage of the discount before it expires. Promoting your flash sale through email or social media marketing is a successful way to spread the word and drive traffic to your site.
For the best results, make sure the promotion emphasizes that the items included in the sale are in limited stock and offered at an extreme discount. You can also announce how long the sale will take place to create a greater sense of urgency. Running a 24-hour or three-day sale can greatly impact your conversion rates as people rush to buy items before the promotion ends.
Exclusive VIP Sales
Customers in nearly every industry enjoy exclusivity. Making people feel special is often effective at convincing shoppers to make a purchase and can increase average order value (AOV) and brand loyalty. If you have a VIP loyalty program already in place, you can offer exclusive sales to a curated list of subscribers. For those without a loyalty program, you may want to review your user data and identify customers who engage with your email campaigns the most. Promoting your exclusive offers to your most active audience groups will result in more revenue and a higher engagement.
Targeted Email Campaigns
Email marketing campaigns continue to be one of the most effective ways for eCommerce companies to bring in more sales and attract new customers. According to recent data, the average ROI for email marketing is still $44 for every dollar spent. If you’re looking to clean out your seasonal inventory, leverage your user data to create targeted email campaigns based on previous purchases and user activity.
Managing seasonal inventory can seem like a headache, but it’s really just part of maintaining a healthy eCommerce business. Luckily, with a little strategy and smart marketing practices, you can sweep away seasonal items, which will bring in more revenue and lower your operational costs. Plus, well executed sales and promotions can raise brand awareness and attract more traffic to your eCommerce store.
If you’re ready to leverage the power of campaign services to optimize seasonal promotions, reach out to Springbot to schedule a full demo today!
