10 Steps to a Better Holiday Season

By Ray Goodman

Overstocks, Math  and the Value of a Day

Every day matters. Vendors and freight move 24/7. If you can make a purchasing decision on Friday, don’t wait until Monday because early decisions prevent lost sales and back orders.

Expediting freight can mean the difference in preventing back orders, or even making the sale altogether. The cost of expediting a purchase may be more than the gross margin you expect from it, leaving you with no profit on the sale. Know the cost to expedite freight and by item in relation to your gross margin so you can quickly make intelligent decisions.

The best overstock reduction opportunity time period is pre-Christmas, when you can take advantage of strong customer demand. Don’t stray from the framework of your overall merchandising and brand strategy. Instead, use the moment to your advantage. Make targeted promotion decisions in early December, and you can increase sales volume, improve customer experience and reduce  inventory overstocks. —RG

It's no secret that up to 40 percent of most merchants' annual sales occur in the critical fourth quarter holiday period, according to industry estimates — most in the six weeks prior to Christmas. With this, seasonal customer demand is an opportunity to increase sales, reduce back orders and cut down end-of-year overstocks with well-managed forecasting and inventory planning.

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Ray Goodman Author's page Ray has been a consultant to various direct marketing companies across the country. His goal is to streamline the merchandising and marketing planning processes inherent in multichannel marketing. He works closely with clients and industry experts to develop new methodologies and tools for merchandising and inventory control. He says, "It's exciting to work with our staff customers to help evolve our applications. I'm proud of the way our staff works together to bring our visions from concept to product." Ray has been with Direct Tech since 1994. His primary responsibility is directing the development of Direct Tech products. He's been a featured speaker on inventory forecasting and management at various industry conferences.

Inventory Management: 10 Steps to a Better Holiday Season