Although it is more fun putting your marketing plans into action, it is important to conduct some analysis before you start spending your time or money. In a previous post I called this the Treasure Hunt as you are looking for information to help your business become more successful.
One of the areas to analyse is market seasonality. If a product or service is seasonal it means the majority of sales occur at one or a few times of the year. For example, the sunscreen market is affected by the weather and the seasons. The majority of sales occur during summer and/or when the weather is dry and sunny.
The demand for a product or service may depend on:
- Occasions – Christmas, Easter, Australia Day, Mothers Day, Valentine’s Day, School holidays
- Weather – rain, sunshine, snow,
- Days – a particular day or month that has a positive or negative impact on sales eg. Saturday extended trading
- Seasons – autumn, winter, spring and summer
- Business conditions – end of financial year, end of calendar year, tax returns
Why Is It Important?
- Take advantage of opportunities within your market by concentrating your marketing and sales tactics at times when they will have the greatest impact
- Look for opportunities to lessen the impact of seasonality by spreading your product or service sales throughout the year
- Enables you to better forecast your production, inventory and employee needs and therefore manage your cash flow more effectively
Tips
- Look at your customers’ needs and how they depend on certain factors
- Analyse your own sales and determine which months or days of the week you experience sales peaks
- Determine if the seasonality for your market is long term or due to an unusual occurrence eg. special event
- Seasonality may also be affected by geography or location. For example, if you sell ice creams your sales will be less seasonal in cities with warmer weather
- Determine if you and/or your competitors may be causing the seasonality due to history eg. promoting and selling premium chocolates only on Valentine’s Day
Doing a little bit of research can bring big marketing opportunites for your business.
woo intersting tips keep it up