Q4 – 4th Quarter – The Big Party – Saving the Year…
Whatever you call it, the final 3 months of a calendar year are the best part of selling. You’ll Sell a Ton!
Retailers have long relied on this final quarter to bolster their sales, and provide profits that might have been scarce earlier. It isn’t unusual to sell as much in these 3 months as has been sold in the preceding 9 months.
That’s a Ton!
But you have to get ready, and work at it for maximum results.
Buy Early
Presuming you are buying wholesale, you have to get your orders in early. Suppliers have their own calendars of stock, and will frequently take orders early in the year for delivery at Q4. They might not have anything left come October.
So, you should have already made your big buys by August/September.
If you didn’t, you can still get a part of the action. Here in mid-October, I’m placing replenishment orders with our major suppliers.
You can, too.
Buy Big
How much to order? We usually order triple of what a normal order would be.
If we normally order 1 case, we’ll order 3.
Will it all sell? Maybe.
We’d rather have some left-overs going into the New Year instead of running dry when selling is at its peak. If we run out, we won’t know how many we could have sold. Having leftovers gives us an accurate count.
Besides, January sales will be bigger than our average months, so having inventory on hand for then is a big plus.
Ship Early and Often
Get that stuff IN! It won’t sell sitting in your garage or warehouse. Ship in what you think you’ll need for Q4. Yes, you’ll get charged quite a bit for storage, but that gets paid for with sales. In your garage, nothing sells, and nothing gets paid for.
During Q4, Amazon ramps up their employment. In 2017, they are scheduled to add 107,000 to their staff. One Hundred Thousand! Think about that for a bit.
Even though there are all those extra people on board, Every seller and their brother are also sending in their merchandise. It will take a bit longer than usual to get your stuff checked in and for sale,
Ship it in early, and as sales reduce your inventory, send in more.
Relax!
Yes, it’s hectic, but don’t stress over it. You’ll have an exciting quarter, make some money, and be able to say you survived Q4.
Some Sellers push their sales to the max by adding Merchant Fulfilled items to their listings.
We don’t. Too much stress.
We usually go hard until a couple of weeks before Christmas. We take those weeks off and enjoy our family and the Holiday. Then we get back into it after Christmas.
However, you set your own pace because you have your own goals and expectations.
We’re “old” and like the freedom we have to work at whatever pace we choose. Our 10-15 hours a week balloon to 20-30 a week for a month or two. (That’s between the 2 of us, not each.)
Take ACTION
Don’t fret for Q4. Just wade in and take action. You’ll learn and earn, just at a faster pace.
Good Selling! Sell a Ton!
John L