“Wasted time is no bargain! I want those two hours back!”
Who hasn’t felt that way after attending a crowded close-out
sale, particularly if the advertised bargains proved to be no great deals at
all?
Something is definitely amiss here.
A group of us went to a widely promoted store-closing
liquidation sale. We parked three blocks away and stood a line that wrapped
around the building, waiting for the doors to open. We dug through piles of
merchandise, hunting for sweet savings.
Alas, the shopping
was basically a bust!
Sure, we picked up a few items, but we didn’t find any deep
discounts. We can easily find better deals by shopping online and in big-box
discount stores for similar items.
Store managers, are
you listening?
After an informal survey (OK, I chatted up the crowds in the
check-out lines), I can offer these six steps to surefire failure for stores
offering close-out sales.
1. Go for the big
bang with the old bait-and-switch trick.
The store hosting this particular sale practiced this ploy.
Pre-sale promotional flyers announced that multiple vendors were offering
exceptional merchandise. Upon arrival, we discovered the same old stuff they
always stocked.
2. Offer minimal
discounts on originally overpriced items.
Smart shoppers know the difference. A quick internet price
comparison reveals the truth. Marking prices up – just to mark them down for a
sale – does not work with savvy browsers.
3. Try to market poor
imitation merchandise as premium products.
Who has an eye for quality? Experienced buyers can tell
vinyl from leather, plastic from plywood and veneers from real materials.
Customers checking labels and touching products are not easily conned into
shelling out for fakes, even on sale.
4. Trim cashier staff
before the sale.
A store-closing sale is not the time to cut employee hours.
Even if super discounts abound, customers will not stand for standing in line
for hours to pick up a few deals.
5. Proclaim in print
that all items must go, but mark certain fixtures as not for sale.
Clothing racks, shelving units, file cabinets and furniture
are often included in liquidation sales. Retailers who do not intend to market
everything but built-in fixtures should not trumpet “Everything must go” in
sale ads.
6. Tag the event as a
store-closing sale, even if you’re not really closing for a while.
Who let the cat out of the bag on this one? How many
marketers host store-closing sales to draw in past and potential customers,
only to remain open after all?
Honestly. Do
retailers really believe the public is clueless?
Images:
Created
by this user,
including
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