Clearing Out Aging Goods

by Steve Pruitt

AsktheExpertsQ: I’ve taken my summer markdowns and I’ve seen some good results, so what do I have to do to clear the rest of my aging goods?

A: Just keep progressively moving through the markdown cycle and they should take care of themselves. What you need to focus on now is your full-priced merchandise. Go back to all the customers that bought your markdown items, and focus on selling them new product. Chances are, they will also buy more reduced-price goods.

The key is to focus on selling to the “buyers” that come into your store, because they always want something new. Of course, this means that you need to be well organized and diligent about collecting customer information via email lists and other tools.