Specificities of the trade in seasonal goods

Every business owner wants to increase profits. Entrepreneurs involved in e-commerce, particularly dropshipping, are no exception. Seasonal products can be a quick and profitable business. But you can't build a solid business on New Year and Christmas decorations or 'valentines' alone. Specialists from Oise Trade tell us how to work with seasonal goods.

Types of seasonality
Seasonal demand is the fluctuation in demand for a good or service. The level of demand is influenced by the time of year, holidays, the start of the school year, promotional periods, weather and other environmental and social reasons.

Three types of seasonality can be distinguished, depending on the difference between seasonal and non-seasonal sales volumes:

• Moderate. The difference in sales volume is 10-20 percent. In principle, such goods can be classified as all-season goods, as they sell fairly well throughout the year. Examples are food and children's products.
• Bright. The difference in sales is 30-40%. In this case, the profit in the "off-season" is quite low. These are, for example, goods for dachas, agricultural equipment, goods for beach holidays and goods for repairs. If you decide to sell goods with a strong seasonality, the assortment should be diluted and all-season goods should be sold.
• Narrow. The difference in sales volume is between 50% and 100%. These are goods that are relevant at a strictly defined point in time, linked to holidays, calendar events, traditions and habits. For example, Christmas decorations or teddy bears with hearts for 14 February, which no one needs the day after the holiday. Of course, such products should only be a small part of the range, so that you can make money on other products during the rest of the year.

What to consider when selling light and hard seasonal items
Obviously, the sales strategy will depend on the type of product you choose. For beginners, it is better to start with all-year-round goods in order to have a stable income. Over time, as you gain experience, you can dilute this with moderately seasonal goods, as it is less risky to sell them.

The question may arise: why bother with strong and weak seasonality at all? The answer is that the stronger the seasonality of a product, the more profit you can make in the season of demand for that product. But only with the right approach.

You have to prepare for the season of a particular product. If you start choosing a New Year's product in October, it will be too late. The fact is that many shoppers look for goods in advance and sometimes buy them before the season starts. Secondly, at the beginning of the season, your product cards should already be at the top of the search engine. This is the only way to get the most out of selling seasonal goods. Otherwise, you simply will not have the time to get a good position in the search engine and most of the sales will pass you by.