In any business it's important to have clear prices. Your customers want to know how much things cost so that they can decide whether or not to make the purchase. There are laws governing fair pricing in many service industries. There are specific regulations that require prices to be posted and return and refund policies to be visible as well. When it comes to selling goods the rules are a little less stringent. You have to offer fair, consistent pricing to all customers, but it is up to you, the business owner, to decide how to display your prices.
Most business owners spend time carefully pricing new stock as it comes in. They may be a little more lax, however, when it comes to marking items down. Failing to properly indicate sale prices can cost you sales. Clear markdowns are just as important, if not more so, than initial pricing. Why? Because new product usually get prime position within your store. Employees are well aware of the new item and its price. They may even be coached to recommend the new product to customers as they are checking out. New items have the full support of you and your staff. By the time an item is marked down, it has likely been hanging around your store for a bit. It's been replaced by other new items and is no longer the hot ticket being promoted at the register. Employees may not remember the initial price and may be unsure of the sale price if asked. Most customers who definitely wanted to purchase the item have already done so. Your target market now are those consumers who would be interested in the item, if the price is right. To turn these potential customers into buyers, they need to see the right price as they browsing your store.
Take the following scenario as an example. Sally has a fitness tracker. She has had it for years and overall she's happy with it. One day she's browsing in your store and she sees specially designed bands that will allow her to wear her clip-on tracker on her wrist. She is intrigued because she is currently unable to wear her tracker in this fashion, but she has gotten by just fine without this capability for a few years now so it isn't a real need. The deciding factor for Sally is likely to be price. She would like to have a wristband, but since she knows that she doesn't really need one she is going to carefully weigh the cost vs. benefit. If the wristbands are full price she may pass. If they are on clearance for 50% off she will likely jump at the chance to get them for two reasons. One, the lower price seems like a good value, and two, if the item is on clearance she knows it may not be there a week from now when she visits your store again. Having a clearly marked sale price may be the difference between a made sale and a missed opportunity.
Stockpile Fast Free Inventory Management Solution Makes Tracking Inventory Easy
It can be hard to keep up with new inventory, mark downs, and more. Luckily, Stockpile can help. Our fast free inventory management system is designed for small businesses just like yours. Not only will using our solution help you track your inventory, it actually makes your job easier, freeing up time so that you can focus on other critical business tasks. With Stockpile you can easily track items within a single location or across multiple locations. Do you have a clearance section in your store? You can indicate in Stockpile when items move from the main shelves to the clearance section. Tracking the length of time you've had an item for sale can help you decide when it's time to mark it down. You can also run reports so that you can get a better idea of how much inventory you're carrying. Stockpile takes the headaches out of inventory management. Want to see how easy managing your inventory can be? Try Stockpile today!
