Black Friday, regardless of your job title, can teach you a lot about how to be a successful businessman. We’ll get to this later.
I have never been to Black Friday events, but I’ve been there. Over 12 years I’ve been a specialty retailer and witnessed aggressive customers fight for their “stuff”. While most people are kind and generous, there are always a few… you know who?
Black Friday is still going strong. Millions of shoppers are still shopping in stores for great deals as of today’s writing. Last night, outlet stores opened and Kohl opened at 4:45 this morning. Walmart will be open 24 hours a day to assist customers who were injured in the aftermath of last year’s stampede. Old Navy called the Thanksgiving sale “Gray Thursday”. Black Friday, Gray Thursday, or Internet Monday are all options for retailers that will do whatever it takes for customers to make their money easier.
It is difficult to become a reseller. The ultimate winning piece is you. Manufacturers sell to wholesalers, who then sell to retailers. Warehouse rents are less expensive than window rents. Wages, payroll tax, workers’ comp insurance, and inventory are all additional costs. Retail is a business that makes money. There are no net expenses. It takes a lot of work to make a dollar profit. You gotta love retail.
They now go out to earn. There’s not much room for error. Resellers need to be consistent. Traffic is how you get people to your door. You also need to know how they buy the products once they are there (for diversion). It is important to understand product packaging, layout, and inventory management. The right stock is essential for your customer. You also need the correct quantity. Black Friday Deals If you buy more inventory than you need, it might cause you to miss work. As they should, retail employees are highly skilled. Very low-profit margins.
When I see a sale for over 45 dollars, it gives me pause. They’re moving inventory to pay the bills. They lose money from this sale. They want to move the product, and they are willing to take out their cash reserves. If it doesn’t sell then they will have to pay the bill. Keep the damage to a minimum. Most retailers get net terms for the inventory that they have. They purchase it in bulk and can sell it within 30 days. Sometimes, that can be so large that they can purchase Christmas stock from a catalog builder in January, have it delivered in July, and then pay the bill until January 1. You can’t show it for months – this adds to the overflow. This is not common. This is unusual because small wholesalers are limited to 15 days to sell the product.
Walmart is one exception. Their medylazar store is owned by them. They keep the products on the shelves and send invoices to receive payment when the product sells. They replace the product with one that sells and mark the invoice accordingly. Walmart never pays a bill until a product has been sold. This is the best business model. They build a crate and light it up. Then they go to other crates and manage their inventory. They eliminated the riskier and more costly aspects of retail. It was a smart move. Although I love the way Walmart has rediscovered gaming as a retail outlet, I am not a fan of Walmart. They did not change the industry; they made it better. They had deep pockets and created an unfair advantage. The market and government both allowed this to happen.
Let’s get back to the dealers. These people are taking chances. They want to know everything about the product before they purchase it. They must understand their market.
There are many ways to benefit from Black Friday, even if your business isn’t a retailer. A skilled restaurateur posted a sign outside his shop announcing a champagne breakfast at 6 p.m. in Santa Clarita. It can help alleviate their obsessive frustrations a bit. You can also broadcast a sale for medicine users.
If you are not in retail, learn about what is happening during the holiday season. If you have the opportunity, learn as much about retail as possible. This is an unusual and interesting job. This job is very interesting and you can learn a lot.