Tales from the Sales Prevention Department

I like barbeque.  I like eating it and I like cooking it.  I like to smoke turkey legs, briskets, and ribs.  When I got started about 10 years ago it was a bit of a chore to find a good smoker and an even bigger chore to find a consistent supply of wood to use for smoking.  Backyard smoking just wasn’t a big category here on Long Island and retailers were few and far between.

As the years have gone by there are smokers available at the big box home centers and, for a short period in the late spring and early summer, lots of choices of smoking wood.  But once you get past the Fourth of July, the big retailers don’t reorder merchandise.  If you need a quantity of hickory, well, good luck.  And that is the exact predicament I found myself in a few weeks ago as I started to lay in supplies for 30-guest, early August rib-fest.  We’re smoking 12 large racks of ribs over 2 days and I figured we’d need around 40 pounds of hickory for the 2 day smoking session.

I checked with the usual suspects and no stock was to be found.  What was left in the outdoor departments was a shabby assortment of grills, open boxes of grill covers, and assorted spatulas and tongs.  Hickory?  Long gone and they had to make way for the snow-blowers.  So off I went to a local specialty retailer of grills, grill parts, and propane.  The store also features rubs and marinades as well as a 10 foot long wall display of hickory, apple, mesquite, and other smoking woods.  All in 5 pound bags retailing for $9.95 each.  I asked if they carried larger bags and was told no, this was it.  I asked if I could get a better price if I bought 10 bags and was told no, that’s the price, take it or leave it.

Well, I’m not the kind of guy to drop nearly 100 bucks on wood only to set it on fire so I left the store and headed to the web.  A quick search of Ebay and I found someone in Vermont who offered to ship 50 pounds of hickory chunks for $55.00.  4 days later UPS dropped the box at my front door.

Here’s the point: There are still too many retailers who haven’t adapted to the fact that their local consumers have easy choices way beyond their zipcodes.  Just a slight shift in store policy would have closed the sale.  Working on a slightly lower margin for one sale could have turned dollars and kept a customer.

To Sell or to Use? That is the Question

It was the early 80’s and I was a buyer for a company that owned department stores all across the US.  I was in charge of the tabletop area, specifically  the china department, silver (flatware), and all the crystal and glassware.  Or as the Bronx-ite clerical in the office would answer the phone, “Chiner, Silvuh, and Glaaas.”

The Hunt brothers were making a play to corner the international silver market (look it up, great story) and silver sales were through the roof.  One item you couldn’t get enough of were tea sets.  Yes, those ornate sets which included a tea pot, coffee pot, sugar bowl, creamer, and a serving tray.  Sterling, silverplate, baroque, plain, it didn’t matter.  The public wanted them.  Having never in my life ever seen one in actual use (except in the movies) I wondered aloud who on earth really used these things.  A grizzled buyer in the office simply said, “Those are to sell, not to use.”  A retail life-lesson learned.

Over the years we have had the chance to represent dozens and dozens of lines and items. The concept of items to sell versus items to use has always been part of the decision-making process that is utilized when evaluating new products.  Sometimes, carrying saleable but not necessarily useable items seems like a good idea:  They could be part of a fad, be wildly popular, and ultimately churn dollars.  The downside is often limited popularity and heavy markdowns for the unsold product.  Perhaps the biggest downside risk is your credibility with your customer.  Just as you are what you eat, you are often what you sell.  And that’s true for both the wholesaler and the retailer.