SALES: FACT OR FICTION?

Sales… True or false? While some stores are already on their third markdown, the day before yesterday marked the launch of the 2022 winter sales at EMIR. If you read our launch post on Instagram, you understood that sales are not our cup of tea, even if we play along every year.

Want to know why? What really are sales?

What is EMIR's sales policy? Do you need tips for shopping the sales?

Then this article is for you.

SALES / PRIVATE SALES: WHAT'S THE DEAL?

Let's start from the beginning: what are sales? Are private sales sales?

Originally, sales and private sales were two completely different things.

Sales are regulated by the state and allow brands to clear their end-of-season stock by selling the items in question for less than the purchase price.

So originally, sale = clearance.

In practical terms, stores were therefore losing money but saving the furniture.

As for private sales, they were initially used to build loyalty among the best customers and thank them by allowing a small number of them to access preferential prices.

But you understood, that… was before!

Sales… True or false? Clearly NO! Today, sales are purely a marketing strategy and allow stores to sell TOO expensively outside of sales to then give people the impression of getting a good deal.

SALES: PURE MARKETING

95% of brands invest heavily in marketing, for these stores it is no longer about clearing end-of-stock or clearance, let alone financial losses. Quite the contrary!

In other words, in 95% of cases, sales boil down to a well-crafted marketing strategy, a business model in its own right that allows players in the ready-to-wear sector to generate huge profits all year round. But how do they do it?

By inflating the starting prices. And yes, because marketing has a cost and that cost is paid by you, of course! So prices are inflated so that they can offer fake promotional operations all year round, such as private sales, which are no longer private at all. These overly high prices then allow them to display large, attractive discounts during the sales and give you the impression of having made a good deal.

THE GIANTS OF READY-TO-WEAR: A MANAGEMENT MODEL

As proof, the fashion industry has never managed its stock and production so well.

Using the kanban model, for example, brands produce almost just-in-time and actually have almost no stock anymore, because storage is what costs the most. The major stores have never optimized their production and cost management so much, as a result, they have all maximized their profits in recent years. With at their head the champion of stock management, INDITEX which owns ZARA, among others. With RFID technology integrated into the labels of every garment, the Spanish company knows exactly where each item is in real time as well as its size. This allows, remotely, to move stock from one store to another or from one country to another depending on sales in physical stores and online. No need for inventory, yet ZARA runs promotional operations all year round, while the brand has practically no stock. So it really is marketing.

There are still 5 to 10% small designers who play along during the sales, they make a real effort to clear their unsold items, with their small margin they rarely offer -50% but rather -20 to -30%.

AND EMIR IN ALL THIS?

At EMIR we prefer to offer you a fair price all year round. We constantly refine the quality/price ratio of each garment. We strive to adopt the healthiest and most honest approach possible. We favor a relationship of trust with our customers, based on transparency.

When we put our items on sale, it is really to make room for the new collection that is arriving and when we offer great discounts it is because there are really only a few pieces left of a model or that they are the least requested sizes.

You wonder how we manage to maintain fair prices? Even though the vast majority of customers are so used to fake promotions that they never buy an item at full price.

In reality, our prices are below the value of our creations, our goal being to be able to benefit as many people as possible, hoping in the long run to win on volume and not directly on prices.

We also favor word of mouth rather than advertising spending. We think that if the work is truly high quality, it will make its echo.

We do not use distributors who would have captured a good part of the prices.

Moreover, generally in the EMIR adventure we use few intermediaries, we do practically everything ourselves. (even this article!)

At EMIR our business is YOUR clothes and not profit, we prefer to see them on you than in your closets.

TIPS FOR SUCCESSFUL ONLINE SALES SHOPPING

We have painted a rather pessimistic picture of sales, so to make up for it and end on a positive note we offer you some practical tips to succeed in your purchases during the sales.

First of all, it is advisable to take stock of your wardrobe, your free time as well as establish a shopping strategy according to your size.

1. Your search will be different depending on the state of your wardrobe.

• You are at the very beginning, you are starting to fill your wardrobe? Your search will prioritize basics.
• You have already acquired a good base of clothes? You will perhaps focus your search on acquiring your first suit, first beautiful coat or beautiful sweater.
• Your wardrobe is well stocked? Your search will be oriented towards more exceptional pieces, which refine an outfit.

2. The time to devote

It is obvious that depending on your available time, your searches can be completely different.

• If you have little time: get straight to the point, prioritize need-purchases. And if your search is precise, use the filters to only see items in the right size, colors, etc.
• If you have more time, you can afford a little treasure hunt by browsing more or less without filters in the promotion tabs. Your purchases can be need-purchases but also opportunistic purchases when you come across a good deal that you like. But beware of impulsive purchases that never leave their hangers in the end.

3. Your size

If you wear S, M or L these sizes sell out very quickly, so you will have to buy at the first markdown.

If you wear XS, XL or above, then you can take the risk of waiting for the second markdown.

Only after that can you start your sales shopping for which here are some tips.

Tip no. 1: Establish a budget.

Tip no. 2: don't wait for the sales to buy a piece you absolutely need.

Tip no. 3: Be methodical, use the filters.

Tip no. 4: When to buy?

• -30%: need-purchase
• -50%: pleasure-purchase
• -60 / -70%: exceptional-purchase

Tip no. 5: choose the right e-shop and check the terms and conditions:

• free shipping
• free returns
• return period long enough

If these three conditions are met, you can order without risk and even test several sizes and colors…

In short:

Need-purchase → buy

Pleasure-purchase → wait

Anticipate → buy out of season

Add all the items you like to your wishlist even those that are unavailable, it is possible that there are returns and that they are available again in your options.

In conclusion, yes promotions are often a matter of "hypocrisy".

But let's not forget to take responsibility in this story.

It is precisely because consumers no longer buy at full price, wait for promos and have actually become dependent on commercial operations that brands have opted for the marketing strategies listed above.

It is up to us to reform ourselves and consume better with more awareness.

Ali, co-founder of EMIR

For or against the EMIR vision of sales? Feel free to give us your opinion in the comments… We are here to change the rules but we are ready to change too… 😎