The demand for goods can not always be static. On the contrary, it can change depending on several circumstances. Periods of higher and lower demand may require special attention. The popularity of goods can be influenced by the time of year or holidays. In this case, the demand for goods and services can be called seasonal. Many factors need to be taken into account to prepare for it.

Seasonal demand is the change in product sales depending on external factors.  Fluctuations in demand can be dramatic, when the popularity of a product increases or decreases sharply, or is moderate.

The season lasts for a certain period: a few days, weeks, or months.

Types of seasonal demand

There are different types of demand, which depend on two factors:

• Determining the season, which would include holidays or vacations;
• Level of influence on demand.
  

Let’s consider both factors in detail.

The types of seasons by definition:

The Seasons. Many products sell well only at certain times of the year. For example, houses in the private sector are rented or bought during the hot season. During periods of cooler weather, the demand for suburban homes decreases. But in winter and fall, demand for apartments in outdoors increases.

The Holiday Seasons. A large number of goods gain popularity during the holidays. Something is bought for the New Year, and something for Valentine’s Day. The growth in demand for such products is observed about a month before the holiday when people start preparing and want to buy gifts for friends and relatives in advance. The highest popularity of such products is in the last two weeks before and during the season.

Beginning of the school year. Before the start of the school year increases the popularity of products for school, including the school uniform.

Sale Season. During sales, the demand for goods is higher than at any other time. The highest demand is registered during Black Friday.

Business Activity. In this category, the off periods are vacations and weekends. During this time, a decline in sales is very often recorded. In marketing, such a time is called the “dead season”. A clear example of such a period could be the New Year holidays. By this time, people already have time to spend a lot of money on gifts and celebrations. Therefore, during the vacation, they make a very small number of purchases.

One-time or occasional events. During major sports or entertainment events, there is a dramatic increase in demand for themed merchandise. Other events can, on the contrary, have a negative impact on the level of demand. For example, during a pandemic, when many people were out of work, their purchasing power decreased drastically.

Trends. When some trend appears, there is an increase in demand for certain goods or services. This is a temporary phenomenon that lasts until the trend is no longer relevant. Then the demand for goods that were at the peak of sales disappears almost completely.

All these types of seasons can be divided into two groups: cyclical seasonality and event seasonality. To the first, we can refer the change of seasons, periods of vacations or vacations, and to the second – various events, trends, and info trends. When designing a site for certain products, it is important to take into account the seasonality of demand and place timely promotions and discounts to attract customers.

Types of seasonality by the level of influence on demand:

Tough seasonality. Goods are in demand for a certain period. Demand can rise very quickly and fall just as fast. This type of demand depends on irregular events and holidays. An example would be Christmas tree toys, which are being actively purchased before the new year. In summer, these goods are even removed from the stands.

Bright. A decrease or increase in demand for goods and services of up to 50% over a long period. This type of demand depends on the time of year and the vacation period. For example, skis are most often bought in the cold season, in the winter. However, sports stores sell them year-round.

Moderate. Average fluctuations in demand vary from 10 to 15%. Such fluctuations can be observed for goods that are in demand all year round. For example, some food products may be purchased in the largest quantities before the holidays. To promote a site with products, it is necessary to consider such seasonality, to promote a resource for some specific food products at a time when there is the highest demand for them.

Not all products are affected by seasonality. Most foods, medicines, and household chemicals are in demand by customers at any time of year, whether or not there are vacation periods or any events.

How to find out demand for goods and services?

The question “How do I know the seasonality of a product or service?” can be answered by special services. Some examples are such tools as Google Trends, information from analytics systems, and CRM.

Let’s consider some of them in more detail:

In Google Trends you can see the change in demand by region or compare data across regions.

Analytics systems will also help to track the dynamics of key requests, which users navigated to the website.
To analyze a website where goods are sold for more than 1 year, you can use data from CRM with seasonality information. In this way, you can collect data specifically for your site.

How to be prepared for the beginning of the season

It is recommended to prepare for the beginning of the demand growth in advance. The solution to the question, “How do I prepare for the beginning of the season?” is to prepare the product and the website. For effective preparation, it is necessary to take into account the type of seasonality of the product.

The process of preparing the website for the season and the business should include several essential actions that will help to successfully sell goods and services in a period of high demand. To do this, the following actions must be implemented:

1. Delivery of goods to the warehouse. In times of increased demand, merchandise must always be in stock. Buyers may not return to a store that didn’t have popular items.

2. Regular replenishment of the stock.  It is important to organize the on-time delivery of new goods at a time when there is the biggest number of purchases.

3. Shipping arrangements. For customers to get their goods as quickly as possible, it is necessary to establish a delivery process. The delivery must be on time.

4. Recruitment and optimization of staff. During periods of increased demand for products, the workload on employees also increases. A system of bonuses and rewards can be used to stimulate employees.

5. Quick processing of orders. In high-demand times, customers will not be willing to wait long for their order to be processed. You need to set up a process to handle and ship orders quickly.

6. Removing technical issues on the website. Before the start of the high-demand season, it is important to test the operation of the website for technical errors and bugs.

7. A well thought-out marketing strategy. The advertising budget should be accurately calculated and prepared in advance. It is important to choose a suitable type of advertising, to plan the beginning and the plan of the advertising campaign. Advertising should be launched before the start of the season.

When developing a marketing strategy, it is necessary to take into account the type of audience, its activity in the last season, and the activity of the audience during the previous advertising campaign.

When developing an online store before the start of the season it is worth considering all these factors to build an effective advertising campaign and successfully sell goods and services during any seasonal fluctuations.

Seasonal fluctuations of demand

During fluctuations and declines in demand, it is quite difficult to keep sales at the level at which they were at a time of high demand for goods.

How do keep sales in the off-season? To do this, you need to perform the following steps:

1. Launch promotions. Sales and discounts help to attract the attention of customers even at a time when the product is losing its popularity. Good deals encourage people to buy. Stocks can be used to sell overstocked items.
2. Increase the catalog. Expanding the assortment of goods and services will help to keep sales at an appropriate level at all times. For example, you can add a winter assortment to summer sales so you don’t have to depend only on summer sales.
3. Hire seasonal employees. If money earned during the season is spent quickly and unwisely, there may simply not be enough money to launch an advertising campaign and buy merchandise for the next season.

Conclusion
Changes in demand for seasonal products and services are a frequent phenomenon in sales. To prepare for a season of high or low demand, you need to do everything in advance to help keep sales at a high level.
For business owners selling hard seasonal goods, we recommend developing websites in CASTCOM with goods of moderate seasonality. For example, if you already have a website for selling winter sports equipment, you can order our agency to create a website with products that are in demand throughout the year.
Availability of hard and moderate seasonality will help you maintain sales and profit year-round, maintain customer loyalty and expand your target audience.