E-commerce companies can give slow-selling products directly to buyers as gifts. An e-commerce company mainly sells down jackets, and later purchased a batch of women’s socks as a separate category for sale, but the effect was not good. The sales of some women’s socks did not increase for more than 30 consecutive days. Therefore, the e-commerce company decided to give these women’s socks special treatment, that is, to directly remove them from the shelves before being defined as slow-selling products by the e-commerce platform and give them to buyers as gifts.
From December 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021, all buyers who purchase down jackets can get a pair of women’s socks. Of course, this batch of women’s socks that were directly removed from the shelves did not have no sales due to quality problems, but were preventive measures taken by e-commerce companies to prevent them from being classified as slow-selling.
Giving slow-selling products to buyers as gifts is a hidden sales method. Because compared with the adverse consequences of backlogging inventory and even causing other products to be devalued, selling gifts is actually a good solution. In addition, many e-commerce platforms also have areas dedicated to gifts. E-commerce companies can set up gift links in the background for buyers to take pictures. This seems very simple, but you should also pay attention to the following issues.
(1) Set the effective time
The most intuitive effect of setting the effective time is to make buyers feel a sense of urgency and encourage them to place orders. For example, the first few buyers who successfully place orders will receive gifts. This can sell both flagship products and slow-moving products.
(2) Choose the form of gift
The form in which slow-moving products are given to buyers is an issue that e-commerce companies need to think about. For example, should they give the slow-moving products as gifts, or should they slightly upgrade them so that buyers can get a creative Chinese-style small wooden spoon as long as they buy honey? This way, buyers can receive the gift. A certain online store mainly sells honey, and after receiving the gift, it both likes it and feels that it is meaningful.
(3) Control the gift cost
Although the sales of slow-moving products are often not good, there are still costs. Therefore, e-commerce companies should consider the cost when giving slow-moving products to buyers as gifts. Even if they do not make money, they should try to recover the cost as much as possible.
Tips
Giving slow-moving products as gifts to buyers may seem like giving them away, but it is actually a clever way of selling that e-commerce companies can use selectively. Of course, in order to avoid slow-moving products, e-commerce companies should monitor sales in a timely manner, make assessments in advance, and take timely remedial measures once risks arise.