People think that the first quarter of the year is the worst for sales, especially online. People spent a lot of money on gifts and food during the Christmas holiday. Because of this, many people have the wrong idea that people won’t buy anything in January and February. Statistics show that this is in fact very wrong.
On the other hand, gives all the businesses that usually buy from China a big problem. In fact, the Spring holiday might cause a lot of trouble when it comes to sourcing and logistics. Because of this, it is important to plan ahead for your business and decide in December what product you will buy from China and sell to your customers.
So, keep reading this article to learn what people usually buy during the holidays, what you should buy to get your business ready for the New Year, and how to deal with all the problems that come with sourcing from China and fulfilling orders.
How to choose the products to buy
As in every other quarter of the year, people spent money and bought things. The question is, what are they going to look for? There are some patterns in how customers act that repeat every year. If you look at these patterns, you could easily find products that sell well.
People usually look back at the past year to see what went wrong and make wishes for the year ahead. People make New Year’s resolutions to try to be better and improve themselves.
Quicken’s survey shows that 56% of people who make New Year’s resolutions are willing to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars to reach their goals. The payoff: In the survey, people who put money into their goals were 25% more likely to have kept them for a year or more.
According to Statista.com, the most common goal was to get in shape. About half of Americans said they wanted to work out more and get healthier. Also, 48% of them promised to lose weight by the end of the year.
By looking at this statistic, it’s easy to predict what people will buy in January, like:
Items for the gym, cycling gear, pedometers, and smart watches;
Diet improvement is another common New Year’s resolution, which can lead to:
Kitchen tools with a steamer
Items for beauty
Electronics for beauty
Winter holidays
People like to do winter sports like skiing, snowboarding, etc. between the end of January and the beginning of February.
This means you can think of the following:
Gloves and hats for pros
Skating accessories such as sky glasses
Care for your winter sports gear with this item
St. Valentine’s Day is the day when couples show how much they love and care for each other by sending cards, flowers, or chocolates with messages of love. This day is also known as the most romantic day of the year.
Here are some of the most common gifts:
Jewelry, stuffed animals, homemade baked goods, tools, love charms, flowers (they don’t have to be real), and cards.
Carnival
Carnival is one of the most popular holidays for both kids and adults, along with Halloween. It is usually linked to public events like parades, street parties, and different kinds of entertainment.
But the best thing about this holiday is that we get to dress up as our favorite heroes and characters from fairy tales.
During this time, some of the most popular things to sell are:
Masks, different kinds of costumes, wigs, fancy gloves, coats, and costume accessories.
International Women’s Day (8th March)
International Women’s Day is another very important day. This event is held all over the world to celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women.
The Mimosa Flower is the symbol of this day, so anything that shows this beautiful flower or how much you appreciate the women in your life is almost always a winner.
Saint Patrick’s Day (17th March)
On March 17, people in Ireland celebrate St. Patrick’s feast day. He is the country’s patron saint. When Irish people moved to the United States, they brought with them St. Patrick’s Day, which turned into a secular celebration of Irish culture. Even though this holiday is not officially recognized in the US, it is celebrated all over the country as a way to honor Irish and Irish-American culture.
Since there is a lot of green, some ideas for St. Patrick’s Day products could be:
Green Top Hats; Green Suits; Green Dresses; Green shirts; Clover mementos; Green cups; Banners;
You got it, anything that is the right shade of green or has clover on it is good.
Sourcing from China
If you usually get products for your business from China, you probably already know that the Chinese New Year can be hard on business. If you want to get items during Q1, you need to plan ahead.
Chinese New Year Disruption
The Chinese New Year, also called Spring Festival, is a national holiday in China. It will take place on February 5 this year.
Even though a week of holidays might not seem like a big deal, you have to remember that production problems can last up to a month.
During that time, you won’t be able to get in touch with your customers at all. You won’t be able to send them quotes, check on their shipments, or place new orders. Nothing.
Chinese New Year: Market Challenge
In the weeks before the Spring Festival, suppliers will slow down production of their goods so that their warehouses are as empty as possible.
Also, keep in mind that as goods start to run out, prices may go up because everyone wants to buy the last supplies before factories shut down. If prices go up, you might not have much money left over.
The same is true for shipping. Every business will have to ship products before the holiday season starts, which will make shipping costs go up.
It can take up to two weeks to get back to 100% production after the holidays. This is because factories have to buy new raw materials and get their production lines ready for the new orders while workers and managers catch up on all the orders that came in over the holidays.
Prepare for and Chinese New Year
If you want to buy things to sell for Valentine’s Day, winter, and the first quarter in general. A request for a quote must be put together in advance right now.
Don’t forget that even if you buy from a national distributor, it’s likely that he’s getting his supplies from China, so he could also have trouble with his suppliers. In fact, the United Nations Statistics Division says that China was responsible for 28.7% of the world’s manufacturing output in 2019. That’s more than 10 percentage points more than the United States, which used to have the biggest manufacturing sector in the world until China passed it in 2010.
For all of the above reasons, if you want to keep selling your products in a brick-and-mortar store or just on your eCommerce site without any problems, you need to start asking for quotes and placing orders now.
“Preparation, preparation, preparation” is the key to success. This is a different way of saying the famous American saying “Location, location, location!” Start planning for:
picking out the things to buy;
ordering stock from suppliers you know and trust;
Prepare: order some stocks with trusted suppliers
Once you’ve decided what products you want to sell, you must get them as soon as possible from China. As we’ve already said, if you place your orders early, you’ll be less likely to run into problems like out-of-stock items, price hikes, and long production times. The best time to buy a stock would be by the end of December.
Now, the only problem is finding a reliable supplier who can help you from the moment you ask for a quote until your goods arrive safely at their final destination, which can be your home country’s warehouse, Amazon FBA, or a different country.
Sourcing from China – Factories and Suppliers
It’s not easy to find a good supplier you can trust in China. Even if we ignore the obvious problems with communication, not all suppliers can speak and write English well. How can you really tell if the products you want to buy are good or if the factory really exists and will provide all the services they say they will?
In an ideal situation, you should find a partner who can talk to Chinese manufacturers on your behalf, check the quality of your products before they are shipped, and give you honest information about shipping and customs costs.