Avoiding Shopping Tricks: Sales Secrets That Sellers Won't Tell About
'31.05.2021'
Source: Adme.ru
If the joke “we don’t buy anything - we wait until the action is over” does not amuse you, it means that you are at least once, but have become a victim of shopping madness. During sales, discounts and tempting offers are poured as if from a cornucopia, and in pursuit of profit we forget about the main thing: the main goal of any business is profit, so the store will never give the goods at a loss. Adme.ru offers to get acquainted with a portion of the tricks of cunning marketers who are sleeping and see how you leave the store with a bunch of new things.
Showcases are designed to lure you to the store
The task of the marketer is to form the “see and want” impulse of a person passing by. Therefore, pretty interesting tricks are used.
Special design. During the period of sales, the window displays of the premium segment are very delicate, the mass market, on the contrary, does not hesitate to do any tricks, the windows seem to shout: “Come in, it's cheap!” Sale inscription on glass or the inner wall is required.
Color graphics. Most often they use a “proven combination of colors”, which even the most skeptical buyer reacts to.
Guessed? Of course, red and white. And those who want to stand out from competitors risk and use unusual color combinations - orange + purple or blue + yellow.
Price. Most often, there are no price tags on the windows, only a percentage of the discount, so that the buyer does not compare the cost of the product with his salary and, crying, does not run away. If in percentage terms the discount is minimal, then write the amount or new value with the word “total”.
A carefully selected image. Mannequins are dressed in a mix of clothes and accessories, which most fully illustrates the assortment of the store.
Happy people. Use posters with the image of satisfied people on store windows is a proven and working topic. “They bought and are happy, and you are gloomy because you are still without a new thing,” their smiles assure.
The optimal duration of sales is 45 days, so don’t fall into the buying hype when you see a bright showcase, there’s time, be patient. But the start time of sales can vary - it depends on how well the previous season went, the more successful it is for the store, the later you will see a window with discounts.
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Discounts: regular and melting
The size of the discount always depends on demand. If it is high, then the chance to buy a thing is only "on a common basis." And these same discounts are addictive - a spoiled buyer will try on a thing and go away to wait for discounts.
Discounts 25-30% - such discounts are made if it is necessary to increase the demand for goods or passes the initial stage of sales. Usually these are the earliest receipts of the last season and the bulk of the cheaper goods are located in the back of the store.
Discounts from 50% - The second stage of the sale. The cheapest product is placed at the entrance, so that visitors can enjoy the generous offer and go to the store. As you move around the trading floor, the discount will gradually decrease. Most often, this is how they sell piece copies with which buyers will purchase related products.
Liquidation collection with up to 70% off nothing more than a way to get rid of product residues when its season has already passed.
The cheaper items occupy a significant part of the retail space and are scattered throughout the store.
Discounts over 70% - the last stage of sales and, in fact, a cry for help: “Buy me!” All things from the new collection will be waiting at the entrance, and “veterans” of sales will move into the depth of the trading floor so that you, in search of favorable prices, also appreciate the new items. The margin at such big discounts is minimal, it is a desperate attempt to sell as many products as possible and make room for new things.
"Melting discounts." These are baits based on the fact that possible losses scare and excite much more than acquisitions. The principle is that on the first day of the action they make a 30% discount, and then reduce it every day. In the early days, buyer activity may be small, but it increases rapidly when the discount melts before our eyes. Everyone thinks that if you wait for the final sales, you can miss the size or color, and buy, buy. The maximum promotion period is 2 weeks.
Today, the trend is that companies rarely follow the well-known 3-stage sales system and act depending on the current situation, so they can start right away with 50% and finish the sale, without reaching the final huge discounts. Or jump from 20% immediately to 80% if you urgently need to free up space for a new collection, and the previous discount did not work. Monitor the prices to understand the best offer or wound up. And remember that even at a discount it’s worthwhile to buy meaningfully: look at the price tag last, first understand if you need a thing in principle.
Promotions - the opportunity to profitably use attractive offers
Stocks are not a luxury, but a kind of traditional flirtation with a buyer. It is important not to joyfully throw into the pool with your head, but to flirt in response so as not to become the owner of an illiquid asset.
"Week of summer dresses" - stocks for certain categories of goods that did not disperse in the season and occupy space on shelves and hangers. Suitable for those who do not care that the thing in the next season will lose its relevance.
"Promo set." For example, 5 ties for 99 dollars. Most often, you can not choose the color and configuration - this is how they solve the problem of managing residues. But marketers hope for our practicality, because it is in the character of a Russian person to buy everything for the future.
Loyalty program and bonuses as a gift. Every 10th purchase is available at a discount, or as a gift something from the assortment. It stimulates buying more and more, because the profit looms ahead.
Store's birthday most often "passes" in a period of low sales and is not related to the time of opening. During these periods, only stale and slow-moving goods are inexpensively sold.
"Only today". All time limited sales stimulate you to buy something right now. So you are not allowed to come to your senses and are prompted to an impulsive purchase. Online stores use a timer that counts the time until the end of the discount, and the signature "last" on the things you like.
Stores no longer make a terrible secret out of stocks and sell them openly "by stock" at the end of the season. Therefore, in order not to be in the same clothes as the good half of the city, do not buy famous things from the outgoing collection, for example, those that were in the windows and were in the insta-profile or promotion of the brand. Buy classic things that will serve you for a long time and will definitely come in handy: the remains of a basic wardrobe, discreet knitwear.
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Life after the sale goes on
Unsold items of the premium segment are sent to outlets and stocks, some are given to bloggers for brand promotion, some are sold to staff. But this is not the most interesting thing that can happen to things from old collections.
Fall into the store under the guise of new. Basic things from past collections or all-season goods are "updated", placed in another part of the store, and - voila - have time to calculate the profit.
They lie in a warehouse for the time being. Were in the store, but did not see the things that suddenly appeared on sale? Most likely, they try to offer you old, nondescript things that have been in the warehouse for years. Most stores store models from the season before last, which “unexpectedly” fall on sales of outgoing collections.
Become fashionable again. It happens that under a model that did not have success, things are sewn into the kit and it becomes popular in the new season.
They are destroyed. For example, the British luxury Burberry burned things from past collections for $ 36,5 million. Brands do not give unsold clothes to those in need and do not give out stocks, because this is a blow to reputation, because the brand should be associated with luxury.
The task of marketers is to create a feeling of profit from the purchase, your task is to buy goods at a bargain price. It turns out that there is benefit from sales, but only when you get what you really need. In this case, good for you and the store. Are you waiting for sales to buy the thing you like?
