It's inevitable that some of your products will not sell as well as you'd hoped. Before you simply dismiss the product itself as not worth having in stock, you'll want to take an objective look at the product and the price and see if there's something about either that keeps it hanging around for way too long.
1 Look at Your Margin
One of the first things that you'll want to do if you have a product that you cannot seem to move is to take a look at what you're expecting in terms of profit. Simply put, you may be aiming way too high.
Reducing your margin of profit a bit on the item may help to increase customer interest. From a customer service perspective, you'll also be offering the item at a price point that is attractive and sensible. Just as you don't want to purchase your stock at too high a price, your customers don't want to pay a higher price for a product than they have to.
Remember that price reductions should usually be pointed out. Advertising a product as "Reduced 10%" on your site will motivate some customers to purchase the product even if they would have had no interest in it otherwise.
2 Redefine the Product's Role
There are low quality products out there, of course, and every retailer occasionally makes the mistake of buying them. This can actually turn out to be a good thing, however. Simply put, not every product you have in stock needs to be a shining example of quality.
Giving them a new price point can rehabilitate some products and give them an entirely new role. There are products on just about every eCommerce site that don't generate large profits for the seller but that sell so consistently because of their affordable prices that they end up being an important part of the store's stock. Be open minded to the idea that something might not be selling simply because it isn't being sold at a realistic price relative to its quality. Change that price and the product might sell well enough to be one of your most reliable sellers of all.
3 Be flexible in your pricing models
There are many variables that affect how much you can realistically expect to make off of an item and you have to be ready to accommodate those changes. Don’t be fixated on how much you think you have to make off of a product and to end up being too inflexible with its pricing as a result of that.
If you're ready to accommodate changes in the marketplace and the occasional surprise from a product that doesn't sell as well as you'd anticipated, you should be able to find a role for almost any product among your inventory.
And don’t forget we’re always here to help
Competitor Monitor can automate the process of collecting and analysing pricing information of your products and those of your competitors. Allowing you to optimize your business for profitability and growth. It’s all about keeping you one step ahead of the competition.
