If you plan to change your product line, this is the time to do it.
With the holiday buying season just starting, you don’t want to clutter up your line sheet with a listing of stuff that is obsolete or on closing out.
Along this same line, I read an excellent Q & A article featured on the Aeolida website: 17 Smart Wholesale Tips. One of the questions addressed this very issue. Here is the excerpt from the article:
I’m redoing all the lettering on my cards but have some inventory to sell through still.
Would it be confusing if I had the new versions in the catalog which I plan to immediately send to wholesalers while my website has old versions I sell off to direct to consumer peeps?
Clarity with prospective store owners is the most crucial thing, so if I were you I would just add a note on line sheet explaining the shift (just until you sell out of the old ones) so there is no confusion!
In theory, I agree with the answer. In actual application, I am not sure this is a good way to deal with a change in inventory.
My suggestion for dealing with a change in your product line:
- Run a special closeout sale to my buyers. Design a special flyer/brochure with just the closeout items. Explain to your buyers that this is the last chance to buy ABC product before they are gone forever. I would sell the items at a lower price to encourage sales. Also, make sure to include a ‘last day to buy’ notation on the flyer. Email/send the flyer to all of your current store buyers as soon as possible (July or early August), before the main holiday buying begins.
- Follow up with all your buyers a week or two after you send the flyer to ask if they would like to order before the supply is gone.
- Launch your main holiday campaign with your new materials, new products, and any new pricing.
- Selling them on your retail website. If you still have some of the older products left, pitch them to the consumers from your retail website. Create a separate page or area on your site called “Close-Outs and Deals” (or something similar) and once again, offer the items at a slightly discounted price.