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More Options for Buyers Keep Sales Up in Hard Economic Times
By Sarah Pearson Published: 13/01/2009
It is no secret that the current economy is making it tough for everyone – businesses and consumers alike. While hard times certainly mean that consumers are more restrained when it comes to their spending, your wholesale business need not suffer as much as you think because of it. Whether your sales are in the business to customer area of the commerce map, or you deal in business to business supplying, providing your buyers with more options will go a long way towards keeping sales up, even when the economy is heading down (-hill, that is).
When money is tight, people are naturally more hesitant about spending it. This means they will likely spend more time considering a purchase before actually making it, and you need to grab them before they decide against it. To do that, give them as many options as you can - from discounts to payment plans - that will urge them to buy.
For example, if you have an online store, you can use Bill Me Later, an easy and low-cost turnkey solution that allows you to extend credit to your buyers with promotions like “No Payments for 90 Days,” or “No Interest for 6 Months,” and more. Deferred billing is a great incentive for people to go ahead and buy, ensuring you still get sales while your customers feel more comfortable about making the purchase. Bill Me Later is particularly effective for small businesses, since it costs much less than it would for you to develop your own in-house program, and it offers enough choices for you as a merchant to allow you to build a program that will meet your needs.
Another option for buyers that wholesale businesses online and off can implement is lowering the amount of product that they must purchase to get your wholesale price discounts. You can do this for all bulk quantity levels, but even just lowering the requirements on the first tier will make buyers consider making that purchase even more seriously. Just don’t forget to prominently display the “before discount” price and label it as temporary, so they know that they are getting a great deal and they better take advantage of it now before it is gone, of course!
An ailing economy can equal an ailing business, but if you are proactive about making sales, and work to provide your customers with as many incentives to buy as you can, your business will not suffer unduly. In fact, you may find that tactics like these work so well that you implement them to boost sales even after the economy recovers in the future!
