When Should You Start Advertising Your Store’s Annual Sale?
Guliani’s will be having its first annual sale this November. The sale will run Friday-Sunday and the store will hopefully be offering 20% off all designers. I’ve never had an annual sale so I’m a little unsure of what percentage discount to offer, when to start hyping it up to customers, and how to handle designers like Hearts on Fire whom don’t allow discounting? Do you discount loose diamonds too? If you’re having a sale I would imagine you’re seeking volume. If so, then yes everything should go on sale including loose diamonds—but do you offer different percentages for different items? I think that becomes too complicated and it’s just easier to offer a certain percentage of all merchandise. Those of you who’ve thrown an annual sale—any advise would be greatly appreciated.
Delia commented:
For any event at all, whether a sale or a trunk show, having your
staff make personal phone calls to their own customers can really
bring people in. They should make it sound exciting, and leave a
phone message if necessary. Choose words that convey the idea that
the customer is receiving special treatment: "We're advertising the
sale, but I'm calling my own customers to be sure you know.." "I
wanted to be sure you didn't miss out on our sale." Mentioning an
item that the customer is interested in will make the call more
personal and give more incentive for her to come in. "Shanu is
marking down those earrings you were trying on last week!"
Neil The Jeweler commented:
When doing a sale like this, its wise to avoid seeming desperate.
That will only hurt future sales. Things like "huge discounts on
everything in the store!!!" give you a firesale image. You want to
conduct the sale with dignity while also generating excitement,
offer real value, entice repeat purchases down the road. If your
contract says you cannot advertise discounts on some line or other,
well, does it say you cannot bring in some memo goods that CAN be
advertised as sale?(just check local consumer law for what
qualifies as a 'sale'. A blanket, single discount percentage is
neither necessary nor desirable. While you might discount old
merchandise at say 40% off, you just cannot do that with large
diamonds. When to start advertising it? Too soon and you'll delay
regular purchases til the discount applies, too late and you won't
generate enough buzz. I would say one to weeks advance notice
should be plenty, but it depends on your ad media.
Neil The Jeweler commented:
When doing a sale like this, its wise to avoid seeming desperate.
That will only hurt future sales. Things like "huge discounts on
everything in the store!!!" give you a firesale image. You want to
conduct the sale with dignity while also generating excitement,
offer real value, entice repeat purchases down the road. If your
contract says you cannot advertise discounts on some line or other,
well, does it say you cannot bring in some memo goods that CAN be
advertised as sale?(just check local consumer law for what
qualifies as a 'sale'. A blanket, single discount percentage is
neither necessary nor desirable. While you might discount old
merchandise at say 40% off, you just cannot do that with large
diamonds. When to start advertising it? Too soon and you'll delay
regular purchases til the discount applies, too late and you won't
generate enough buzz. I would say one to weeks advance notice
should be plenty, but it depends on your ad media.
