Here we go...the start of the Chicago show, with two (jam packed) speaking gigs tomorrow and my mom by my side. It’s Liz’s first time to the Mart here, as well as her first stay on Michigan Avenue. Should be a fun weekend.The market season‘s officially into high gear. Today, one of my consulting clients asked how best navigate all the show specials popping up as vendors find themselves carrying the weight of excess inventory. Here’s my advice:
1. If an opening order is more than you need/want, it’s not a good deal. Walk away.
2. If a show special requires more product than you need, it’s not a good deal. Walk away.
3. If bumping a bunch of addition product into an order for the sake of getting free freight, do the math. If the additional product costs more than the freight would have, it’s not a good deal. Walk away (or simply lower your order).
4. If you’re required to buy really deep instead of really wide-—when the price tag would be the same-—explain to the vendor, the more shelf frontage they have, the more customers they’ll snag. If they still insist you order deep, walk away.
This year, it’s more critical than ever that you buy smart. There are a lot of offers and programs out there, many of which look great on the surface but may end up robbing you blind in the end. In the next couple of months, you’ll see me address several of the dealer programs in my Gifts and Dec column, “Retail Enabler.”
It’s a complicated market season, folks. There’s old math...new math...and retail math. Time to brush up on the latter.
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