Seasonality of sales has always existed. Today, however, businesses have to show profits throughout the year and pay all fees regularly. So not always they can allow revenues to be concentrated only in certain periods.
Seasonality of sales - definition
Seasonality of sales - explaining this concept may seem unnecessary, because everyone is aware of the existence of this phenomenon. What is more interesting, however, is that seasonality also affects non-obvious industries and that there are strategies to eliminate it. The seasonality of sales is defined as a situation where there is demand for a good or service only at certain times of the year.
Seasonality can be related to objective factors such as the weather. They can also be artificially imposed. Externally - by regulations or customs (holidays in July, prohibition of a given activity in certain periods, etc.). Sometimes the seasonality of sales is also associated with consumer decisions, which explain, for example, the extraordinary popularity of passes for physical activities and gyms in January, when many people start implementing New Year's resolutions.
How to use the seasonality of sales?
The seasonality of sales on the example of New Year's resolutions shows quite well how to use and stimulate these trends. When you look at the trends that have been popular in recent years, many of them will turn out to be related to stimulating sales in "dead" periods throughout the year. Adequate marketing strategy it will allow, for example, to extend the period of greatest interest in classes and provide tickets sales support in less obvious months:
- February: campaign aimed at people who did not manage to buy a subscription at the beginning of the year.
- March-April: Gym pass for a spring clean-up.
- May-June: preparation for the bikini season supported by an appropriate content strategy on a healthy lifestyle.
- July-August: Encourage you to try a quick recovery exercise one week before your vacation.
- September-October: passes for pupils, teachers and students, new school year - new resolutions.
- November-December: a pass as a gift idea, preparing for the new year by purchasing a pass.
Communication strategy for each month of the year, it may result in the equalization of the proportion of revenues that are usually generated by the seasonality of sales.
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Seasonality of sales and negative effects for the company
Seasonality of sales in the last paragraph will be presented as an opportunity. For now, however, it is worth understanding that it also carries certain risks. The most serious is the lack of financial liquidity. It happens that the business owners themselves are not aware of the subtle differences over the course of the year marketing audit makes them aware of the seasonality of sales.
Low commitment and weakening can also be a negative effect when it comes to the seasonality of sales customer loyaltywho forget about the company for six months or more. This is where an intelligent marketing strategy will help, such as a newsletter, YouTube channel, a loyal customer club, etc. The company can skillfully remind customers of itself, eg by showing its preparations many months before the season or releasing side products and services available for most of the year. You can learn a lot about your customers' needs over the course of a year by following and analyzing search engine trends. They allow you to react very quickly to new fashions and needs out of season.
Can you sell all year round?
Seasonality of sales is not only a problem for companies that sell trips only for holidays or holiday decorations only in December. People who deal with online business also deal with this phenomenon.
Online sales of courses assume a loud premiere several times a year, but there is a dead period in between. The answer is passive income and the launch of the so-called evergreena, that is, an automated product that provides a certain steady income throughout the year. Similarly, newspapers try to encourage subscriptions, and streaming platforms try to encourage subscriptions for the whole year.
Another, but more time-consuming solution will be to develop a new product or sales market to ensure customers not only "in season". In addition, marketing can be helpful and a well-chosen one PR tools. An email marketing or advertising campaign can direct customers' attention to the product before or after the season, pointing to a lower price or other bonuses associated with a purchase at a less favorable time. Often, such artificially created dates turn into iconic events, such as the autumn market or spring cleaning of warehouses, which are used to stimulate seasonal sales also at other times of the year.
Finally, you can find additional sales channels in or around the season to saturate it to the maximum. The organization of workshops is a recently used practice. A company that produces Christmas decorations may invite companies or children to make Christmas balls together from the first days of December. A course, a book or a museum of baubles could help bridge the dramatic difference between December's revenues and the lack of them in the rest of the year. These are just a handful of examples of how seasonality of sales can be used to the advantage of the company.