Well, last year didn’t fare so great for many retailers. The sales were lower than ever. This year, everyone is very optimistic about recovery. Retail stores are expected to make up a lot of the money that they lost last year, and then some. This is great, right? Well, it is for some. The problem now is that retail store owners, especially smaller boutique owners, are struggling to find the loans that they want to get the inventory that they need. So, how are you supposed to make your bank if you can’t get hold of the goods to sell?
There are a few different things you could do. One, is to push online deals. When people order online, they will pay up front. This keeps you from having to keep the inventory on hand. Most suppliers will let you put in small orders to provide customers with their goods. Customers may be more patient with things being on backorder at this time of year, as long as you are able to give them a definite date that their products will be in. If they’re buying for Christmas, they won’t be in a big hurry to have it in their hands.
The next thing you can do is to have an early season push. If you can make enough on Black Friday, then you can earn the money that you need to supply yourself with enough inventory to make it through Christmas. Using the money that you make wisely is the key. A lot of retail store owners will even give up their own paychecks in order to have enough holiday inventory.
Give rain checks. It is really common to see rain checks at retail stores now. Hang clothing on your clothing racks and then attach rain checks behind them. When the clothes run out, the rain check will be there. Customers can bring it to the register and prepay for the item. Then you will have the money to order it. Make sure that you include a good photo of what they are ordering on the rain check, and let them know that it is okay to switch up sizes once the products come in. When they come back in to pick it up, chances are they’ll buy something else on their second visit.
When inventory is running low, let people know that you have more sizes on order, or that they can order their size online. If they are going to have to go home and order, you may want to give them a five dollar off coupon or some other incentive to actually go through with the purchase. Once they’re away from the store, the chances of them purchasing something get slimmer. Give them your card so that they can call you personally if they run into problems online. Give them some sort of personal attachment to hang on to or they may not feel obligated to make the purchase from a computer instead of from agarment rack.
About the Author: John Garvey is on the staff of Only Garment Racks, a leading online source of clothing racks including garment racks. Find a high quality garment rack or clothing rack at http://www.onlygarmentracks.com.