How a going out of business sale is ended in the last week could mean several thousand dollars difference to the small business owner. It is crucial that steps are taken to finish the sale properly.
First, the retail owner must understand that the inventory left is not the best inventory and needs to be liquidated. Otherwise, you will have a garage, house or storage building full of merchandise instead of cash in your pocket.
Usually, this inventory depreciates. I had a few owners take stuff home and if they sold it made less than they could have during the sale.
The last day of the sale, you should be 90% off. In addition, make good prices for sections of merchandise. The leftover merchandise will cost you money for the time to remove it.
The next to last day have an 80% discount. In some cases, this should be two days.
Before the previously mentioned discounts, you should have at least a week of 70% off. I have found often, it is best to run an extra week of ½ off and then go to 70%.
Fixtures need to be marked down for the last week. Fixtures are sold as is price and any discounts do not apply.
Call local businesses to see, if they can use any of your fixtures. Place an ad on craigslist and if needed in the classified section of the paper.
Keep condensing aisles to have traffic limited to specific aisles. It will help with the shoplifting and by being neat will increase sales.
Make sure all the end caps and front of the store are filled. Sometimes, putting some of the fixtures with prices in these areas can help move these items.
Make sure anyone buying fixtures understands when, they can get them. When possible have fixtures picked up at time of sale, if they are empty or the merchandise can be moved easily.
In today's business climate, If you try closing your store and any of these areas are done in a haphazard way, you can either lose thousands of dollars by selling off to quickly or not fast enough and in either case you lose money or have a great deal left at the end. |
No comments:
Post a Comment