Now that the holiday season is over and we’ve all entered the New Year you’ve probably got the post-holiday blues – and this might be because of a couple of reasons. Firstly, all the indulgence has thrown your regular diet off balance. Secondly, your body is recovering from all those sleepless nights and hangovers. Thirdly, you just remembered that you have excess stock in your warehouse that hasn’t sold yet.
You might be overstocked because of a number of reasons – maybe you didn’t crunch the numbers when it came to demand-forecasting, or the weather was warmer than usual – and consumers didn’t buy all of your warm winter accessories. And there might be the chance that the rapid pace of how technology is evolving has made your products obsolete by the time you stocked them.
Your main priority should be to sell these overstocked goods – mainly because being the post-holiday season, they’re more than likely to be seasonal goods that need to be sold fast.
Here are a few things that you can do with your excess stock:
Sell your leftover inventory
This is the most logical thing to do with the leftover inventory from the holidays. The only things you need to decide is:
- How much discount will you be offering on your leftover stock in order to sell them
- Where are you going to sell them?
Offering too much of a discount may hurt your product’s image, and selling them online may require far more time and effort that you’re willing to invest.
Warehouse flash sales
A solution would be to host a warehouse flash-sale – seasoned shoppers always wait for the end of the holiday season to get their hands on all the goodies they need. You have to offer deals that are too good to be ignored by the consumers.
These types of warehouse flash sales are very convenient because you don’t have to find an online platform or retail location to sell your products – you can sell them directly from your warehouse!
Also, warehouse flash sales have strict payment terms – the rules usually are: first come, first served, and very often cash and carry only. This means that your customers will pay on the spot, with no delays and no credit card processing fees. This way you can instantly convert your stock to cash, without any credit terms.
Bundle your leftover inventory
This is one of the oldest tricks in the marketer’s handbook: if your product catalogue allows it, you can bundle similar products together – then offer them together for a lower price (than if they were bought individually). This way you can increase your average order value and clear your leftover inventory in no time!
You can also bundle many units of the same product together – this works best with small to medium-sized items. It’s preferred for the products to be the same size so they can be physically tied or shrink-wrapped together. By doing so, it will make it easier to stack and pick up the products.
Another commonly used technique is bundling complementary products together. These are products that are usually consumed together- this is why you have to check if any of your excess stock can complement any other non-seasonal items that you are selling. You can add extra value by combining them together compared to offering them individually on their own.
For example, you can create bundles of hats, scarves, and gloves – you can bundle random coloured items together, creating a unique package for each of your customers. These items will go well together in cold weather, and customers will appreciate getting a good deal if they get a useful bundle for cold times.
You can also opt to work with a liquidation company
Your excess holiday stock is looking more obsolete and irrelevant with each day. If you are still looking to get back some of your money, it’s best to sell them to liquidation – you wouldn’t believe how many companies are specialized in buying overstocked items. However, be aware that you will be offered pennies in the pound for your stock, and that liquidation companies will pick anything they think they can sell. The upside to using liquidation companies is that you still will be cashing out, meaning that you will get almost instant funds that you can simply invest in buying new stock – since you will also free up warehouse space.
You can also donate your excess stock
Will you be giving your excess stock away for free? – well, not exactly. Not only are you doing a good deed by helping the less fortunate and needy during a time of celebration, but you are also earning a tax credit (reclaimable tax relief).