Many business owners think a clearance sale is just a way to cut your losses, to finally rid yourself of stock that you’ve given up hope of turning a profit on. Fortunately, however, some strategic thinking can help you turn your clearance sale from a tourniquet into a boon!
Selling old stock in a clearance sale can make you money, and you don’t have to reinvent the wheel to do it! Learn more clearance sale insights from Bartercard below.
Remember: Clearance sales aren’t bad business
When placing items in your clearance section, don’t feel defeated. This is an opportunity to make finite storage space available and improve your cash flow for more popular products in the future. Remember that you can make money on a clearance item if you are the only supplier of a popular product or brand. Look for stocks of popular products from wholesalers or bankruptcy sales. By controlling the supply, you can set your prices without having to worry about what your competitors are doing.
Creating a sense of urgency about clearance items can make you money quickly, so it is a good idea to run a clearance sale as a limited time offer. For example, make products available for one day only. Provided that your pricing represents a bargain, customers who are interested in the product will have to make quick buying decisions.
Target your audience and stay in touch
If you run clearance sales regularly, you should build a mailing list of customers who are interested in bargains. Ask them to provide email addresses and give you permission to email them with advance details of upcoming clearance events. By building awareness and anticipation, you can increase the opportunity to sell more to a targeted audience.
When you are trying to move inventory out of your store, product bundling is a very useful tactic. “Buy one get one free” is a classic strategy. Savvy shoppers will notice they are getting big discounts for each item if they buy them as a pair. This also encourages customers who are undecided between two items to pull the trigger on both at no extra cost.
Include recognisable brands
Discounts on branded goods often appear to offer greater value than discounts on unknown products. A recognisable brand on a clearance shelf can lend credibility to other items in the sale and can make a bundled offer much more attractive. You can include branded goods in a clearance sale when manufacturers are introducing a new model or a new seasonal range so that you can make room for new stock.
Grow Your Business by Building Traffic
Selling clearance items can also make you money by attracting more visitors to your store or online outlet. Grow your business by offering clearance items that are only available in your store or online This helps build traffic and incremental revenue by introducing customers to other products that you offer.
Expand the reach of your clearance sale with the Bartercard network
In the cash economy, to sell excess stock, a business will typically apply a discount, run dealer promotions, or write off excess stock. Through Bartercard, business owners can instead sell excess inventory at the normal selling price, negating the need to reduce precious profit margins.
Rather than heavily discounting, running last-minute deals, or writing off surplus stock, you can keep its value by selling it through Bartercard’s network at the normal selling price! We provide you with the tools to sell excess stock and liquidate inventory, ensuring you maximise your returns and your productivity during slow periods and utilise spare capacity. Become a Bartercard member today and see the benefits for yourself!