Regardless of whether your company has a physical shop or an online shop or even both, it is common that there is a significant drop in sales in the Summer for many products.
Only the fashion sector, that is traditionally successful with the summer sales and some specific sports related products see a revenue increase in the months of June, July and August. The Summer period is generally synonymous with drought season for other sales sectors, however.
Although this is nothing new and is unlikely to change in the future, most people’s attention is firmly focussed on leisure and holiday and their spending is therefore concentrated on services and experiences like restaurants, cinema, travel, etc.
But that doesn’t mean you have to sit back & accept this. You can take action to help slow the drop in sales and, simultaneously, take advantage of this calmer period to plan campaigns for the short or medium term.
Join in the sales, regardless of your sector!
It may seem like just a simple tip, but price is a determining factor for the vast majority of products and for the vast majority of customers. Ensure you take advantage of the sales period to create attractive offers.
Don’t be afraid to reduce your prices at this time especially If you have a good profit margin on the items you sell. Remember that in times of low sales it is better to sell a lot at a good price than to sell a little at a much higher price.
Generate a sense of urgency
In marketing, creating a sense of urgency, or a sense of alarm often works very well accompanied by other actions. If there is the margin to reduce a product by 15%, start by reducing it by only 10% using the concept of “last items in stock”. Many consumers see concepts related to low stock before the low price so give it a go!
Differentiate yourself from the competition
In this blog we have already talked about the importance of differentiating imported products from those of the competition, but this tip goes a little further.
Further to differentiating your products, you can add value to the service you have with valuable actions such as interest-free financing or extension of the repayment period.
Interact with your customers
While social media is admittedly one of the best ways to engage with your audience, it is not the only way. Try organising a competition. On the Internet, this is cheap and easy. If you only have a physical shop, why not try running a prize draw among all the people who leave you their name and email address? It’s a fabulous way to expand your database!
Force the increase of your average sales ticket
This strategy should actually be carried out all year round, but during low sales periods, like the Summer, it is an excellent technique to ensure that, although there are fewer customers, those who do buy spend more.
If you know, for example, that the average spend of your customers is 30 €, run a promotion that will encourage the customer to spend a little more. For example: “on orders over 35€, we’ll give you a free beach towel” or “get a 10% discount with a 40 € purchase”.
These tips to increase your sales this Summer can work for most sectors. However, it is important to remember that, for any business, it is essential to carry out a market study to analyse the strong and weak sales periods before starting to grow and expand.
At the same time, and as we saw in the post on the first steps before importing, preparing both a business and a marketing plan are two essential tools that, as long as they are well worked out, will help increase sales in the Summer.