How to Cope with Seasonal Product Demand

The old adage says 'variety is the spice of life' - but if you are in business, you know that variety in customer purchasing patterns can be an extremely stressful issue to deal with.

Every season will see different products shoot to the top of the must-have list and others sitting on the shelves, gathering dust. What you want to know is how to stock more of those 'must-haves' and fewer of the dust gatherers.

Some seasons will see a trend to fewer purchases - other months, everything you have on the shelves will be selling.

While you can't change your customers' buying patterns or convince them to buy what they don't want, you can use a little logic, research and planning to try and get a better picture of when they are going to want things, what they may want and then prepare accordingly.

Do Your Homework

Start by trying to predict what will sell. If you don't keep a record of your store sales, you may have a problem with this. The best way to predict the future is to learn from the past.

Looking at your sales from the same time period a year ago will give you a good idea of what sales will be at same time this year.

If you are planning for the fall season, look at last year's fall sales to know what may be selling this year. Generally, the same types of items will sell, just in the current season's styles.

Next, plan for typical down times. Create ways to bring customers in that may not traditionally choose to shop right now.

If you would prefer to hear the cash registers ring, you need to come up with new ways to get customers. Some options to do this include holding events, sales and stocking special items:

* Events - Season-based themes usually go over very well (Summer Beach Fun, Spring Break, etc). Use the current season to create an event that incorporates your items.

You could have special visitors that customers can meet, or even a themed party that gets them into your store having fun, and makes them more likely to open their wallets.

* Sales - A great deal will bring in shoppers that were not originally planning to spend money. Design clear signage that lets shoppers know how great the deals are in your store and what they'll be missing out on if they just walk by.

* Special Items - If your regular items aren't selling as well, maybe it's time to try out a few new items or unique niche items that may grab the attention of your customers.

If you can get them in to purchase one small unique item, you may be able to get them to stick around - and purchase a couple more items that are part of your regular inventory.

The key to coping with varying and seasonal product demand is to try to plan ahead for those times to keep the profits coming in.