You may have noticed that it’s been quiet on the W4C blog for quite some time now. We’ve been working on a rebrand and had originally planned our comeback to mirror our relaunch but given what is happening right now with the coronavirus we’re breaking our silence in order to support the product based business owners who, like all other industries, are really struggling right now.
There’s no doubt about it, this is a scary time. With so much pending uncertainty people are not going to be spending like they usually would. For web based businesses you’ll most likely see a drop in sales and for wholesale businesses your reorders will probably be reduced or moved out. As a small business owner without a large corporate safety net, it can be hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Our hearts tend to hit our throats when we see sales take a nosedive-after all we’ve all got bills to pay! Regardless of what type of product biz you run Here are some tips to help you run your product biz during this scary and uncertain time:
Ecommerce Sites:
Review what has driven ecomm sales revenue for you in the past and repeat the campaigns that worked. However, don’t feel like a flash sale is the only option to get some quick cash! While yes, historically sales will drive prices you need to be very selective about when and how often you run a sale to avoid the GAP effect (ie-waiting for a sale because you know it’s coming)
Offer a gift card option: Check out apps that will easily integrate into your shop and add a gift card option to your offerings. Gift cards are a great way to encourage friends, fans + followers to shop with you today.
Develop a limited edition/pre-order item: Limited Edition designs are always fun to incorporate into your product strategy, doing so now can help you drive immediate sales. I love capsule collections or exclusive limited edition creations to increase engagement and excitement!
Implement a buy now save later promotion: By implementing this type of promotion you encourage customers to purchase from you now at full price and also receive future savings. You’ve probably seen major retailers use a similar strategy (Old Navy does this a lot with their cashback promotions) Spend Now, Save Later can keep shoppers coming back plus it gives you the cash flow to weather the storm now with full price sales.
Wholesale Partnerships:
Offer discounts for orders to ship now: While this sounds contradictory to the ecomm flash sale noted above, offering your wholesale partners an incentive can encourage them to buy now instead of putting their order on hold. Retail customers aren't privy to how you run your business behind the scenes so you don’t need to worry about the GAP effect. With this strategy, your retail partner gets a cost savings that they can reinvest into their business that helps them keep their doors open and you see the sale hit your books this month. It doesn’t need to be a Black Friday level discount either, don’t feel like you need to give your goods away! Whatever you offer should work with your margins.
Review on hand merchandise and offer opportunity buys/margin builders: If a flat discount on a total wholesale order is a little more than you can support right now explore margin builders on an item level. That old inventory is tying up your dollars so it can be better to move it at a lower margin then have it continue to sit there.
Review Open Orders + Check in on your partners: Take a look at your open orders to see who is on deck to ship within the next month and review those orders against your shop policies. Do you collect payment before an order ships? If so, you may want to consider reaching out to the store owner to touch base and make sure they are still ok with the shipment. Yes, doing this could open up the conversation to their cancelling/pushing out the order but better to know that now then deal with a stressed out shop owner looking to return goods. Is your customer on terms? If so, checking in can help ensure you get paid on time. Sending a $600 order now, only to learn that in 30 days they are in even more of a crunch and payment will be split/late will hurt more than scaling back on the PO now and flowing more goods when the time is right. This will also help you manage your inventory expenses, if you know in advance people are looking to scale back you may be able to pull from your on hand vs. investing in additional components and supplies. We are all feeling the crunch and a friendly voice checking in may be exactly what your favorite shop owner needs to hear right now.
Overall Business Health:
Just as you’re giving your home/office/everywhere a deep cleaning now is the time to do the same for your business.
Physical Count your inventory and determine how much you have on hand at wholesale and at retail and see how this impacts your overall sales plans. You may have more/less on hand then you thought, having exact #’s will help when reviewing overall expenses.
Update your Available to Sell to reflect correct inventory information so all the information is ready when buyer requests hit your inbox.
Update your monthly/annual projections-these need to reflect the challenges we’re facing so you accurately account for future inventory spending.
Give your website an audit and make those improvements you’ve been putting off
Update your website imagery, product descriptions, terms etc.
Check in on your partners-anyone you’ve done business with can benefit from a little love in their inbox. Let them know you’re thinking about them and ask if there is anything you can do to support their business.
Take an e-course: Learning is fun, and can help to distract us (even if it’s only temporary) it never hurts to invest in ourselves. Plus, you’re supporting another business during this difficult time
Practice Self care- Know when to work, and when to rest. Watching the news can me mentally exhausting so if you’re feeling like Netflix + Couch time is what you need then do it.
Pay it forward: When an order goes through, allocate a % of your profits to reinvest in another business. This could mean ordering takeout from the local italian restaurant (something that’s on my list to do!) or buying that birthday/anniversary gift that is on your list from a local store or another maker instead of Amazon.
Hang in there friends, we’re all in this together.