When you run a business, you’ll constantly need to look for ways to improve it, expand it, and make it more profitable. If you don’t, you run the risk of others moving forward and taking your place, and in the end, if that happens too often, you’ll find you don’t make any sales at all.
One way to boost revenue, remain competitive, and engage customers is to hold a sale. It might sound counterintuitive to say that discounting products and services can make you more money in the end, but it’s actually true for a number of reasons, and it can help in other areas of your business, not just where it comes to making a profit. Sales events, when done in the right way, can bring many advantages to your business, so keep reading to find out what they are and why holding sales in your business is a good idea.
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Increased Revenue
At the heart of everything anyone ever does in business is the idea of making more money – even if you don’t like to think of it that way, it’s the truth. And another truth is that holding a sale can give you a direct and efficient way to make some extra money.
By offering discounts and special promotions on your products and services, you can persuade customers to buy things from you when they might not have done otherwise. In other words, they’ll be so impressed with the sales price that they’ll buy without looking anywhere else or waiting until it’s a better time (which might never come). This gives you immediate extra revenue, and it can also create some brand loyalty, leading to longer-term customers who buy from you even when you’re not holding a sale.
Even if you spend money on poster printing to advertise your sale, and even if you’re not making as much profit as you normally would, you’ll be selling more in terms of quantity, so you shouldn’t lose out, and you’ll certainly gain in the long run.
Clear Inventory
It’s highly likely that, if you sell physical products, you’ll have accumulated some excess stock over time. When you think about it, anything sitting on shelves or packed in boxes in a warehouse isn’t making money, and holding a sale allows you to fix that problem and clear some space for new items to be stored.
Even if you sell these things for less than you would normally have done, it’s better than not selling them at all, and you’ll still make a small amount of money. You could even sell them at cost if need be, as you wouldn’t lose any money, and if you’ve held onto these items for a while you would have paid for them quite some time ago, meaning that any money that now comes in for them is an added bonus. If you would otherwise have thrown the goods away or left them taking up space, holding a flash sale instead makes a lot more sense in business terms.
Attract New Customers
A sale can be a brilliant way to find plenty of new customers for your business, especially if the only reason they’ve found you is because of the discounts you’re offering. When potential buyers come across your enticing discounts and special offers, they’re more likely to try you out than they would be if they had to pay full price (and the better the discount, the more likely they are to take a chance).
Assuming your products are good quality and you offer fast shipping (or at least manage your customers’ expectations and let them know when they should expect to receive their items) and excellent customer service, these new customers should stick with you even when your prices return to normal. You’ll broaden your customer base and boost your profits over time.
Strengthen Customer Loyalty
Although attracting new customers is always something every business should be trying to do all the time, it’s just as important to take care of your existing customers. Holding sales can be a good way to show appreciation for those loyal customers, and they’ll feel a special connection to your brand if you offer them some deals that no one else can have.
By offering exclusive discounts or giving them early access to sales events, you can make your existing customers feel valued and appreciated, which makes it much more likely they’ll continue to buy from you even after the sale – after all, they bought from you before the sale and they know you set up special discounts for customers, so why would they want to go anywhere else?
Generate Buzz And Excitement
Sales events have the ability to generate plenty of buzz and excitement for your customers and your entire target market. The key is to market them in the right way, using all the methods at your disposal and making sure that you reiterate the point that missing out would be a big mistake.
It’s best if you can work hard on creating a sense of anticipation leading up to the sale itself by talking about limited-time offers, for example. This can spark a lot of interest among your customers – and potential customers – and make sure they plenty of people take part in the sale. Whatever your goals are, whether it’s to clear stock, make money, find new customers, or anything else, by generating a real buzz about your sale, you’ll stand a much better chance of reaching your objectives.
Data Collection
There’s another useful reason for holding sales events, and it’s to gather data. When you’re able to gather plenty of data and insights about your customers’ preferences and buying behaviours, you can use that information to tailor your marketing to them in the future, ensuring you find more customers and make more sales.
By monitoring products that sell well (and those that don’t), you’ll know what stock to buy in the future, meaning you won’t waste money, and you won’t have to hold stock that no one really wants. You’ll be able to give your customers what they want and benefit from it.
