strategies for summer and holiday sourcing

© 2013 WhatDoISell.com 2013 Summer Sourcing Guide 1

2013 Summer

Sourcing

Guide Strategies for Summer

and Holiday Sourcing

15


Lisa Suttora is an ecommerce marketing strategist, and

founder and CEO of Lisa Suttora International and

WhatDoISell.com.

Since 2004 Lisa has worked with

online merchants in 8 countries

and over 2600 niche markets, to

develop the skills and strategies

that drive six and seven figure

annual revenues.

Lisa is the only speaker to present at Ebay Live/On

Location events 6 out of 8 years on the topic of “How to

Find the Products Buyers Want.”

In 2012, Lisa was the

keynote speaker at

both the SCOE

Conference and

MonCon West on how

to “Tap Into Trends

and Source In Demand

Products”

Lisa will be presenting at the May 2013 SCOE

conference on… “Sourcing Shakeup: How to Conquer

the Challenges and Capitalize on the New Sourcing

Opportunities for Today’s Amazon Marketplace”


INTRODUCTION

The month of June requires a major shift in product

sourcing focus for online sellers.

A point where your sourcing must turn into a “two track”

endeavor.

The sourcing decisions you make over the next 90 days

will impact your sales for the rest of 2013.

•Summer Sourcing

Track 1

•Holiday Sourcing

Track 2


As of June 1, we’re a scant 92 days

away from the start of the 2013

holiday selling season!

40% of online shoppers make their

first holiday purchases in

September.

This means that if you don’t have a representation of

your holiday inventory listed online by September 1, you’re leaving money on the table.

And then there’s summer sales.

The sourcing you do for the rest of the

summer will determine whether your

sales see a summer slowdown or are

sizzling hot!

Now is the time to change it up and shift

into a new product sourcing mode for the second half of

the year!

In this special 2013 Summer Sourcing Guide, you’ll learn

15 sourcing strategies that will increase your summer

sales and prepare you for the biggest selling season

of the year, the holidays.

Let’s get started!


SEASONAL SOURCING CHANGES

Summer Selling Season

What do buyers shop for during June, July and August?

Over the next three months, consumers are online

shopping for:

Seasonal summer items

Graduation gifts

Father’s Day gifts

Travel season items

Back-to-school

Wedding items

Water sports gear

Sports gear

Home repair products

Lawn and garden items

4th of July décor

And more!

Sales of winter products have slowed in U.S. and

European markets. (While Australia moves into their

winter season.)

From electronics to fashion, home, sports, health,

beauty, toys, automotive, even food… every product


category has “summer centric” products that will be in

high-demand between June and the end of August.

And while there are many “everyday” products that sell

all year long, your sales can increase significantly if you

capitalize on the demand for summer related items.

Summer Marketing

If you sell in a marketplace, your summer product sales

will benefit from the additional seasonal advertising done

by the marketplaces.

Amazon has created an entire "Get Ready for Summer"

store designed to promote summer centric products.

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=5163197011

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=5163197011


If you’re looking for ideas of what to sell this summer,

your first stop is to spend time looking at the thousands

of products being promoted in Amazon’s “Get Ready for

Summer Store”.

This market research is invaluable in understanding what

summer shoppers want to buy.

Amazon features these products for one very important

reason – sales history! They know from previous years

exactly what people buy during the summer months.

All that sales intelligence goes into building their summer

store. The products listed there are not random

selections!

Next, they pair past sales history with new product

trends and product offers, to put together the most

compelling selection of summer products online.

Using this store for market research and delving deep

into the categories and sub-categories will reveal many

pockets of opportunities for summer sourcing.

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=se2012_recip_wrr?ie=UTF8&node=5163197011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-leftnav&pf_rd_r=3E0FE605394346069823&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1548158822&pf_rd_i=4924449011

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=se2012_recip_wrr?ie=UTF8&node=5163197011&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-leftnav&pf_rd_r=3E0FE605394346069823&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=1548158822&pf_rd_i=4924449011


Ebay is also featuring summer-related products. A recent

ad on their home pages encourages buyers ready their

motorcycles for the summer riding season.

Even the media jumps into “suggestive summer selling”

mode showcasing “must have” products that you never

knew you needed – until you saw them that is!


No matter what you sell or where you sell it, there’s

money to be made sourcing the right summer inventory.

In fact, you likely have inventory that’s perfect for

summer sales already – and you’ll find it once you start

looking at it through your “summer sourcing eyes”.

Holiday Selling Season Sourcing

Throw on your swimsuit and prepare for the

holidays!

While most of the world is

focused on summer fun, for

online sellers this time of year

is all about holiday sourcing and planning.

Unfortunately many online

sellers don’t even start

thinking about what to sell for

the holidays until September 1!

(And most ecommerce

publishers don’t talk about

holiday planning until October

or November when the season “hits”.)

http://lisasuttora.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/xmas_beach.jpg


By then…

It’s much too late to begin and you’ll have lost thousands of dollars in sales

Suppliers run out of hot holiday products

Sellers run out of money to buy inventory

There’s no time to keep up on the holiday trends

The weather intervenes and shipments get delayed

Experienced online sellers who were prepared snag

the early bird customers who keep coming back to buy more

Early bird shoppers spend more to get selection

When are “the holidays?”

When most people think of the "holiday season," they

usually think of the bulk of the shopping that happens in November and December.

While it's true that the Christmas season is the peak

sales time, if you only consider the period from

November through December as the holiday selling

season, you're missing out on several other seasonal selling opportunities along the way.


“The holiday selling season is not just a short period from November to December”

Beginning in September and running through mid-

January, shoppers are in varying stages of holiday shopping mode.

Take a look at the list below, and you'll never look at holiday selling season the same way again!

Here are 11 different selling seasons for you to capitalize on:

Back to school shopping

"Falloween" (Fall-themed products that carry into

Halloween)

Halloween

Thanksgiving

Gift-giving season (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa,

etc.)

Gift certificate redemption season (late December

through January)

Post-gift-giving trade in/trade up purchases (late

December through January)

New Year's

Fitness (January)

Organization (January) "Fresh Start" products (January)

Now you can clearly see why the holiday selling season is

not just a short period from November to December, and

the many opportunities there are to source inventory. In

the 2013 Summer Sourcing Guide you’ll learn tips for


starting your holiday sourcing now. And making the most of the opportunity to source before September.

So let’s get started with our 15 tips for Summer and Pre-Holiday sourcing…

Well start with summer sourcing.


1. Identify & Reprice Existing Summer Inventory.

June is the time to take an assessment of what inventory you currently have listed online.

Time to dig through the boxes in your warehouse or

storage area and see what inventory didn’t get listed or sold last summer.

Many online sellers already have some summer

inventory tucked away on Amazon, eBay, or in their warehouse/home office.

Inventory that didn’t sell last year, or maybe arrived too late in the season and didn’t get listed.

This is your first line of attack on summer sourcing!


Once you’ve identified your summer inventory, to make it attractive for 2013 sales, you’ll need to:

Price it correctly for the 2013 marketplace. This

could involve repricing up or down.

Refresh your existing product pages, making sure

your title keywords, features and item specifics are

current and complete. This will not only make sure

that buyers can search and find your products, the

changes you make to the product page will also get

your product pages re-indexed in marketplace

search.

Start marketing! Don’t wait for a marketplace

search to sell your product. Post it on Pinterest,

showcase it on your Facebook business page, or

tweet out your summer inventory offerings.


2. Recap Last Year’s Best Sellers

If you’ve been selling online for more than a year, you should have a monthly reports of your best sellers.

What were your best-selling summer items last July?

Did you sell dozens of the Wild & Wet Spinning Fire Hydrant Water Sprinkler?

If so, it’s time to contact your supplier and see if they have some new styles on deck for this summer!

Since most suppliers sell out of their best stock early,

check to see if they have any specials on last year’s styles as well.


If you haven’t been selling online for a full year, or you

don’t have any best-seller reports for your business, it’s time to start tracking this now!

You’ll find these reports very useful for growing your business in the future!

3. Create an Inventory Planning Notebook

In order to track your

inventory successes (and

those “don’t source again”

items, you need to create an Inventory Planning Notebook.

This 3-ring binder, (a 3 or 4”

spine is best) categorized by

month will enable you to

aggregate reports, supplier

catalogs, trend information

and planning notes all in one place.

Creating it in a physical format allows you to get away

from your desk for some planning, as well as keep supplier catalogs/print outs all in one place.


4. Request the Latest Wholesale Catalogs

Contact existing wholesale suppliers and request an updated catalog. If you’re sourcing out of an older catalog, it’s time to get up to date!

Some suppliers regularly send out new product

offerings via their online catalog. With others you’ll need to be proactive and contact them.

You’ve gone to all the work of building a relationship with your supplier, don’t wait for them to notify you of their new spring, summer and holiday products. Take action now!

5. Summer Arbitrage Sourcing

Brick-n-mortar retailers stock their merchandise up to

two months in advance of the season, so by the end of

June, early July they’ll be clearing out their summer

inventory to make room for back-to-school and fall

products.

Most people don’t realize this and wait far too long to hit

the stores for summer arbitrage sourcing.


Because of the early clearance cycle of local retail

stores, there is increased online demand for summer

products that buyers can’t find in stores.

This means arbitrage sourcing opportunities for

summer clearance merchandise abound!

6. Source at Sidewalk Sales

Summer offers a unique opportunity to pick up great

discounted merchandise from smaller brick and mortar retailers who participate in an annual sidewalk sale.

These are the mom-and-pop stores, located in local communities.

When sourcing arbitrage, online merchants usually focus on the big box stores like Target, Walmart, etc.


But small, independent retailers

all over the country have millions

of dollars of unsold merchandise

stored up for their annual summer sidewalk sale.

Without a clearance outlet to get

rid of unsold inventory during the

year, many smaller stores hold

the inventory for a huge blowout sale during the summer.

You can pick up some great inventory, often at 70–90% off retail.

Check your local paper for an upcoming sidewalk sale in your area.

You’ll even find that drugstores and grocery stores participate in sidewalk sales if they are located nearby.

This offers even more opportunities to find good inventory and great prices!


7. Source on Ebay, sell on Amazon (or visa versa)

There are always sourcing deals to be had on Amazon and eBay, and during the summer is no exception!

On Ebay, look for…

Products listed at auction ending at rock bottom

prices

Auctions that end without a single bid

Listings that end in the middle of the night, or

weekend. Times when buyers are not on the site shopping

Auctions currently represent only 30% of Ebay’s sales,

but there are many sellers who still think everything should be started as a low priced auction.

This means that thousands of items end each day with no

bids or minimal bids. Inventory that you can pick up for

pennies on the dollar and resell on either Amazon or Ebay.

For example, the listing for this tea kettle from designer Michael Graves ended on Ebay without a single bid.

A last minute purchase could have been made at $29.99 with free shipping.


The same tea kettle is selling on Amazon between $59.99

- $122.99 (with no FBA competition – you could be the

first!).


There are deals like this to be had all the time on EBay.

However, make sure before you source something

on Ebay to resell on Amazon, that you can sell the item on Amazon. Here’s a list of product categories that require approval prior to selling on Amazon.

To do your market research on eBay to see what’s selling and for how much, look at Ebay’s completed listings or use the Terapeak market research tool.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?pf_rd_m=A2CA1KKALKCX2O&nodeId=14113001&pf_rd_s=top-1&pf_rd_r=1QCK2FJ0WZFB7K3Y67WV&sr=1-1&pf_rd_p=1328499722&ie=UTF8&qid=1315348234&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=soa-faq-detail

http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-3978876-10532626


Amazon runs Daily Deals that offer great inventory at lower than wholesale prices.


You can sign up here to receive notifications of these daily deals.

Set up a separate “Sourcing Deals”

email box for daily deal notifications, so you can scan the list once or twice a day for sourcing opportunities.

In fact all stores, including flash sale sites and

group sale sites send out email deal notifications.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/gss/detail/512430


This is a GREAT way to find more online sourcing deals, all in one place – your Sourcing Deals email inbox!

8. Contact Your Wholesale

Suppliers About Summer Deals

Just like retailers, suppliers get overstocked. Check with

your suppliers to see if they are offering any upcoming summer deals.

This could include special

pricing on end-of-season products, free shipping, or specials on mixed lots.

If you’re new to sourcing wholesale products, it’s not too late to get started!


Sourcing the RIGHT Wholesale Products to Sell on Amazon will show you step-by-step how to select

profitable products to sell on Amazon, how to locate legitimate wholesale suppliers in any product category, how to build profitable relationships with your suppliers and much more!

For Ebay sellers and website owners, Power of 10

Product Sourcing will show you the step-by-steps for sourcing profitable wholesale products to sell on Ebay or a niche website.

http://lisasuttora.com/amazonsourcing


http://powerof10productsourcing.com/



9. Pinterest Sourcing!

If you haven’t yet set up a Pinterest business account to

market your ecommerce products, you’re leaving money on the table.

If you’re not using Pinterest Sourcing to get ideas for

products to sell, you’re missing out on one of the best

ways to find out what products are hot and in-demand by today’s consumers.

Pinterest is known as the place for people to discover

ideas for products to buy, to find out about the latest and greatest items, and to see what’s in and trending.

For online merchants, it’s a great way to keep your finger on the pulse of what buyers are talking about.

Pinterest users also tend to pin with the season. So June

is a great time to get some last minute sourcing ideas for summer.

If you sell women’s lingerie, this lacey tank-top bra with

1,222 repins on Pinterest is a serious indicator that people like this bra style.

http://pinterestforecommerce.com/


Even if a pin doesn’t have a 1000+ likes, you can still get great ideas for products to sell.

If you want to get sourcing ideas ahead of the season on

Pinterest, simply do a search by keyword and pull up

hundreds and hundreds of pins that will provide sourcing ideas.


10. Track the Trends

June is the time to start

paying serious attention to

trend information. If you’re not

yet on top of what the trends

are in your niche, it’s time to

make this a focus. Whether you

source products wholesale or do

arbitrage sourcing, you have to

have an idea of what consumers are buying now.


There are many ways to do this:

Reading trade journals…

Consumer magazines

Talking to suppliers Scouring the web for trend articles

These are all Idea Hotspots and market research

methods I teach in-depth as part of my Sourcing the RIGHT Products to Sell on Amazon Course.

What brands, colors, styles, and products are in demand this year? Make it your business to know!

Here are a few examples:

Sell men's watches? What are the trends? Read the

industry trade publications to see what the hot new styles are.

Are stylish fashion watches all the rage this year, or are gift-givers looking for rugged GPS-enhanced watches?

Sell rain boots? What colors and designs are selling

now? Are people buying short ankle boots or tall boots? What new brands and styles are on the scene?

Consumer fashion magazines, trend websites and fashion

news in the media all provide clues and insights as to what the hot holiday sellers will be.

Sell home décor products? What will people be

decorating their homes with during the holidays? Holiday

rugs, Christmas-themed dishware, inflatable Santas or mantle trees?




Many product categories now offer seasonal décor. But

keep in mind that traditional products like a white

tablecloth or new fireplace set can also be hot sellers during the holidays.

Sales circulars that come in the Sunday paper provide

great clues to popular brands, new products and up and

coming trends. Big stores spend of millions dollars a year

on market research and advertising to get the right products in front of the customers.

And it’s all there, free and in color for you to leverage in your business.

11. Start Talking to Your Suppliers Now

Start the conversation with your

suppliers today about what

inventory they think will be there

biggest sellers this holiday season.

Wholesale suppliers spend tens of

thousands of dollars in market

research before they manufacture a new product for the holidays.

They know what styles, colors, brands, limited editions etc. are going to be popular for the holidays.


Leverage their knowledge! They are there to help!

12. Source New Versions of Proven Best Sellers

Sourcing hot holiday inventory doesn’t always mean reinventing the wheel.

After identifying your previous and current best sellers,

the next step is to research new versions, styles, models, colors and brands of these products.

Eight years ago, Tickle Me Elmo was the hottest

Christmas toy on the market. Every year since, the

makers of Tickle Me Elmo have released a new Elmo with a different spin.

The LeapPad Tablet is a top seller every Christmas. Each year, a new version is released.

All of them have landed on the holiday toy best-sellers lists!

But this is not just limited to toys!

Whether it’s curling irons, Dutch ovens, power drills, nail

polish or clothing, most every manufacturer comes out

with a new version, color or special edition for the holidays.

Stocking your store with updated versions of what your

customers are already buying is one of the easiest ways to stock up on hot holiday products!


13. Pay Close Attention to the Back to School Hit List!

Back-to-school sales are a preview of the hot holiday sellers.

This is by far the biggest clue that online merchants miss each and every year!

The back-to-school selling season is

not just for young kids! High school

students, college students,

professionals and parents all head back to school in the fall.

What doesn’t get purchased by the

end of the back-to-school season in

mid-October, is deferred until the

holiday selling season.

The items, still on wish lists around

the world, make their way to holiday gift lists – to be

purchased either for the recipient or by the recipient… for themselves!

Here’s just a sampling of the types of products that are on their shopping lists:

1. Laptop cases

2. Brightly patterned backpacks

3. Rolling backpacks

4. Sports bags

5. Motorcycle boots


6. Ankle boots

7. Girls school uniforms

8. Boy’ school uniforms

9. Locker gear (mirrors, shelves, decor)

10. Running shoes

11. Gym clothes

12. Teacher supplies

13. Art supplies

14. Eco-friendly lunch boxes

15. Eco-friendly hot mugs and thermoses

16. Cosmetics

17. Costume jewelry

18. Watches

19. Phone covers

20. Layered friendship bracelets

21. Dorm room bedding

22. Water bottles

23. Hampers

24. Pans

25. Cooking utensils

26. Dorm room storage

27. Locker chandeliers

28. Webcams

29. Bedazzled headphones

30. Colorful clipboards

31. Coffee makers

32. Brightly colored denim jeans

33. Woven wicker and raffia handbags and totes

34. Loungewear (faux pajama look for school)

35. Beanie caps

36. Flowered headbands

37. Nail art (press on nails)

38. Musical instruments


39. Digital voice recorders

40. Calculators

41. Personalized dorm-room decor

42. Fall sports gear

43. Leap Pad Learning Systems

44. Easels

45. Globes

46. Skate clothes and accessories 47. Mini-fridges

As you can see these back-to-school products make great holiday gifts as well.

Check the store ads, scan the hot lists and pay attention to what sells at this time of year!

14. Source Seasonal Versions of Year-‘Round Products

What are your best selling products today? Make a list

and now look through your supplier catalogs for seasonal versions of your current best sellers.

For example, do you sell…

Glassware

Jewelry

Candles

Throw rugs You name it!

Check to see if the manufacturer offer seasonal specific styles.


You can also source brand new seasonal product lines.

Christmas Lights

Decorations

Ornaments

Lighting

Clothes

Cosmetics

Gift sets

Gourmet foods

Toys

Bedding

Towels Dishware

These are just a few examples of seasonal holiday items.

But remember, the time to buy seasonal merchandise is

now. All the hot wholesale items will be sold by September!

Which brings me to the next tip…


15. Order now, take delivery later.

When it comes to holiday sourcing, you don’t need to take delivery and pay for your inventory right away.

Most wholesale suppliers will allow you to pre-order and

schedule delivery in increments closer to the actual selling season.

You won’t have to pay (in most cases) until your inventory is delivered!

The enables you to reserve the in-demand items for the

holidays, and gives you time to take your summer profits

and reinvest them in holiday inventory when the time comes.

Get Started Now!

When you get started sourcing for the holidays

now, you have…

Time to plan

Time to make informed sourcing decisions

Time to budget your inventory capital

Time To locate the best products and the best prices on holiday merchandise

Thomas Edison said…

“Good fortune is what happens

when opportunity meets with planning.”


Strong holiday sales will bring good fortune to you, your

business and your family. But you have to start planning now in order for that to happen!

TAKE ACTION

Implement any one of these 15 sourcing strategies and

you’ll improve your sourcing skills and increase your sales in the second half of 2013.

Ramp up your sourcing skills quickly and take advantage of the once a year spring sourcing sale.

Sourcing the RIGHT Wholesale Products to Sell on

Amazon will show you step-by-step how to select

profitable products to sell on Amazon, how to locate

legitimate wholesale suppliers in any product category,

how to build profitable relationships with your suppliers and much more!

For Ebay sellers and website owners, Power of 10

Product Sourcing will show you the step-by-steps for

sourcing profitable wholesale products to sell on Ebay or a niche website.






Learning to source the right products in June, July and

August gives you the time to implement your new skills

and capitalize on the most lucrative season for online sellers – the holiday selling season!

But time is of the essence! You can’t play catch-up in September.

Whether you sell primarily on Amazon or Ebay, it’s time to ramp up your sourcing over the next 90 days!

Yours in online selling success,

PS: If you have any questions about our sourcing

programs, please contact our support team at http://whatdoisellsupport.com

PPS: I’ll be doing three bonus Q&A calls for our program

members over the summer, so you’ll be able to get your individual sourcing questions answered each month!



http://whatdoisellsupport.com/

strategies for summer and holiday sourcing

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