The trusted quarterly turning of the winter, summer, autumn, and springtime seasons are simply a guide for the U.S. retail sector. About 1 million retail outlets comprise this sector with combined yearly sales of about $5 trillion. To keep consumers purchasing year-round retailers and manufacturing companies follow seasonal calendars to enhance impulse buying regardless of the season.
Start Early
Perhaps you have found that even before the children return to school, many retail shelves are stocked with Christmas cards and Halloween candies. Retail professionals plan their merchandise and advertising strategies months beforehand to achieve success in this industry (Hoover's Staff, n.d.).
Six Months to a Year in Advance
Innovative preparation helps to ensure that retailers have products ranges targeted for their details shops' customers. This means a clothes chain's shops in Minneapolis offer thick sweaters while its shops in Honolulu and Phoenix carry shorts in January.
Planning Ahead
Retail buyers possess the primary responsibility for seasonal goods strategies. All year long, the tendencies are tracked by buyers for his or her product types and examine previous sales amounts for their shops (Lipow, n.d.). Retailers use demographics software to enhance their tracking data.
While advertising the present season retailers usually plan. Businesses that import goods intend farther ahead. Buyers help shop and corporate employees strategy promotions, promotion and promotion aligned using the strategies that are seasonal.
Sometimes retailers use tracking systems may be used to discover the peak shopping times of a retail store for vacation each month or season. Tracking the quantity of people that enter their shop within a certain time provides useful insight into advertising planning.
Conclusion
Retailers continue to operate via this seasonal trend year after year because it is a proven formula for success. It predicts consumer behavior and how they shop so that retailers could plan for it. For example, most retailers know that by mid-December most people shopping for Christmas gifts will be in last minute mode so they may offer more impulse buy products. Additionally, this seasonal trend involves a lot of planning so retailers could take in the big picture then tweaks it if necessary to accommodate change.
References
Hoover's Staff. (n.d.). Seasonal Trends of the Retail Industry. Retrieved July 9, 2015, from http://www.hoovers.com/lc/industry-information/seasonal-trends-of-retail-industry.html#.VZ8nsfkpDIU
Lipow, V. (n.d.). The Seasonal Process in Retail. Retrieved July 9, 2015, from http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search/company-industry-research/seasonal-process-in-retail/article.aspx
