While the summer heat is still in the air, it is time for your retail store to prepare for fall. Along with fall comes a change in weather, a change in colors, and a change in buying habits. Fall and winter holiday shopping will pick up speed quickly. Here are a few ways to prepare:

Properly Store Seasonal Items

Cleaning and storing your summer items in an environment that will ensure they remain damage free until next summer is a big deal. Improper storage will mean you have to buy new items next summer instead of being able to reuse and repurpose them.

Trend Forecasting

In the forefront of the fall and winter months looming, you need to consider upcoming trends. Forecasting what customers will be shopping for can help you properly stock your store with items that will sell quickly, easily, and at full price, saving your profit margins.

Inventory Management

While you want to stock up on fall items for the changing seasons, you should look at sales and inventory from previous years so you can gauge what you need to buy and how much of it. It is likely that spending on seasonal items will be on the back burner this year with the vast changes in budgets and an increase in the cost of goods. To avoid having excess inventory, stagger ordering extra inventory until you know you will need it. This will prevent you from taking a loss and having to discount seasonal items.

Keep Some Summer Selections Available

Travel in the fall is a common occurrence for those looking to escape the cooler weather, so it is important to keep some summer selections available in areas that still aren’t feeling fall weather, as well as keeping items for those that will be traveling to warmer climates during the fall and winter months.

If you need capital coming into fall, we can help.