10 Tips for End-of-Year Clearance Sales

The new merchandise for 2016 is coming in, but you’ve still got shelves of 2015 stuff to move. Besides clearing out your inventory, you need to add to your income sheet for the year. Holding onto old merchandise can keep you stuck in the past. Instead of hoping to recoup your investment, it’s better to realize that the money is gone and that not every gamble pays off.

However, you might still get something for last year’s merchandise. Consumers look for — and expect — end-of-year clearance sales. So why not give it to them? Clearance Sales Tips

While the weather can be tricky in November in the Blue Ridge Mountains, a tent from Hendersonville Tents Party & Event Rentals provides an ideal cover for your clearance sale. The tent serves as the initial attraction, and your clearance inventory keeps them interested.

Here are a few more tips to make your sale a success, clearing the way for a prosperous new year:

1. Place the tent in the parking lot of your establishment so that customers can easily move between the two spaces. Create a breezeway with shelves of merchandise or a clearly marked walkway so will move intoo your store for more specials. 2. Make the markdowns significant on at least 10 of your oldest items. A 20 percent markdown won’t clear out your inventory the way you need it to. But a section featuring 75 to 90 percent off will get customers’ attention. 3. A progressive markdown process, over a couple weeks, lures customers back again and again to see what’s left and how low the prices actually go. For example, mark your clearance section 35 percent off. Cut it to 50 percent off after two days and 75 percent in a week. End with a huge 90 percent off the remaining inventory for a big blowout. 4. Use signs around your tent to advertise the progressive sale. Take advantage of social media to post the news about how much merchandise is left after each markdown. Create a sense of urgency with each new update. 5. Package old merchandise together so that customers are required to take two-for-one, BOGOs, sets and groupings to get the biggest discounts. You move more inventory while giving your customers the best deals. 6. Create an event around your sale with music, magicians and clowns set for certain times. Hold an auction during one of your special times and move some of your merchandise through a fun-filled bidding process. 7. Hold drawings for some of the merchandise. Ask customers to fill out an entry card with their phone number and email address for the drawings, held daily at certain peak shopping times. Not only do you move the inventory, you build goodwill and a new mailing list. 8. Make your end-of-year clearance sale a community event by offering a percentage of your profits to a local charity. Besides the goodwill, you might even score some local press coverage for your philanthropy. 9. Hold clearance sales annually so that customers remain loyal throughout the year and look forward to your big blowout sales. You might even order some items with especially high margins just to add into the sales each year. 10. Meet new customers and welcome your regulars with an invitation to return when new merchandise arrives. Hand out coupons that customers can use when your clearance sale is over, such as “Save an extra 10 percent off with a $50 purchase,” valid for another few months.

Clearance sales help you move old merchandise, but they also can be used as a path to introduce your store to new clients, show off your latest merchandise and catch consumers with point-of-purchase impulse buys when they check out.

Everyone wins when you hold a successful clearance sale. Be nice and reward your staff with food and beverages for the extra hours they put in for the clearance sales. Have fun while watching your profits rise.

Hendersonville Tents Party and Event Rentals is family-owned and operated. 2015 marks the 31st anniversary of providing tents, tables, chairs, dance floors, pipe and drapes, tableware, games, specialty lighting, PA systems… everything you need to host a memorable outdoor event. Hendersonville Tents Party and Event Rentals provides a personal touch to your party. Whatever your needs, Hendersonville Tents has got you covered.