Voice of the
Has the Sale lost its Value?
By Nick Dyer of Maran Atha Fasteners Limited
I remember once reading an article about a company who led with the advertising slogan “Now is our winter of discount tents.” This came to me earlier this month when I was planning a winter styled promotion to run here at Maran Atha Fasteners in St Helens where I am the Sales manager. We were trying to come up with some different tag lines to add to the advertising in the shop when someone asked me “Do customers really take any notice of sales nowadays?” This got me thinking whether or not I should bother with the sale because
at the end of day we offer our customers the best deal we can whilst trying to make money and appearing to be the cheapest also. In the current internet friendly world I think we may have moved away
from the all out drag ‘em in kicking and screaming sales of yesteryear. We are all more interested in getting the best price that is available and I think “huge savings” and “half price” banners are all too frequently ignored. To put it bluntly do we as retailers and sometimes consumers actually care that the products are half price or carry huge savings? Don’t we just want the best value for our money, which basically boils down to the best price available? The internet with all it’s whistles and bells has certainly grasped the
imagination of the consumer who constantly ring me up explaining that I am out by a country mile on price to A N Other on the web. Although I personally have nothing against the internet retailers out there I sometimes find a little gripe to someone being able to gazzump my price and not having to have invested the time and effort into supplying knowledge and service to the end user and instead just selling boxes. Sometimes the beauty of retailers like us is that we harbour a collective
mass of knowledge, tips and services that we offer to our customers and then when a sale comes along our customers “fill their boots” whether it be with us or elsewhere, sometimes without a second thought of loyalty. If we were to offer just our very best price would we all survive? Would a customer show loyalty or would they just shop around for the best deal possible? I certainly know when I am buying products for Maran Atha I want the bottom line and below. So is this why we have sales to try to appear cheaper than the A N Others
or is it to rid ourselves of the dead wood that is clogging up our shelves and warehouses? All my sales mainly comprise of blowing the dust off and sticking on a hi viz star emblazoned “never to be repeated” until the next “sale” because they haven’t sold in the last one. I certainly feel there is no point to the sale anymore, it has lost it’s appeal
with me (and my customers) and I will only be offering goods at the “lowest price” I can, but this offer must end Bank Holiday Monday so get it while you can, well at least until next Bank Holiday Monday!
2 ToolBUSINESS+HIRE
www.toolbusiness.co.uk
Industry
Reply No. 228
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