In the world of eCommerce, the first quarter is seen as the hardest time of the year. People have already spent a lot of money on Christmas, and suppliers in China are closed for the Spring Festival, so you can’t get any new products.
So, is closing the only way out? No, not even close. We’re here to show you that there’s always a good way to boost your sales, no matter what.
So, keep reading to find out how the Chinese New Year affects online businesses and why you should get ready ahead of time. How can you deal with problems caused by Chinese New Year, and what are some great sales strategies you can use in Q1 to make a lot of money?
The Chinese New Year Problem
What is the Spring Festival?
The Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year, typically begins sometime between the end of January and the middle of February. The beginning of the new year on the traditional Chinese calendar, also known as the Lunar Calendar, is celebrated by billions of people around the world, but perhaps nowhere more so than in China itself. There are two full weeks of official national holiday!
What the… You read that correctly; the entire nation goes into lockdown for a weeklong celebration. The date of Chinese New Year shifts annually, and while the official holiday itself lasts for about 2 weeks, most businesses also close for a few days before and after. This means that your vendors typically take two weeks off every year.
How the CNY affects Dropshipping
The bad news is that this holiday will most likely have a negative impact on dropshipping companies. But you’ll be better prepared once you figure out what holds you back. Some fundamentals require your attention.
Firstly, beginning around the middle of January, many vendors will cease taking orders in the final weeks before the holiday. Products will begin to run low two weeks prior to the holiday, and vendors will have no interest in replenishing them until after the Chinese New Year. When they finally do shut down, they want their warehouses to be completely empty.
As a corollary, the shortage of goods will lead to an increase in prices as people rush to buy up remaining supplies before the factories shut down.
Finally, many vendors will be out of commission for the entire month, making them not only unable to fulfill orders but also unreachable. This meant that you couldn’t get any answers to your questions, including those about the status of previous shipments or pricing for new goods.
Last but not least, it usually takes a week or two into the new year before things start moving again. It’s possible that some vendors won’t be back to full strength until early March.
How Can You prepare your dropshipping business for CNY?
What steps can you take to ensure the success of your dropshipping company during the Chinese New Year? With just a little forethought and some ingenuity, you can keep your dropshipping eCommerce store up and running even during the Chinese New Year holiday.
You should do two things: (1) buy a small stockpile of your most popular items to keep delays to a minimum, and (2) inform your customers to expect a small shipping delay of about a week. (The forwarding firms typically take this time off around the Chinese New Year.)
You need to begin preparing for Q1 at the beginning of December, well before Christmas is over. Choose the items you want, place your order.
However, how do you decide which items to purchase? For the Q1, which ones would you recommend?
Read on to learn about a couple of solid methods for setting goals and achieving them in the first three months of the year.
Dropshipping Strategies: The New Year Resolution Strategies
It’s common practice at the end of each year to reflect on one’s actions and make resolutions for the coming year. We’re talking about a classic case of a “New Year’s Resolution” here. Our plan is to use this practice as the basis for a comprehensive advertising campaign for your company.
If you look up the most popular resolutions for the coming year on Google, you’ll notice that they all have something in common:
Getting Thin
Exercising to Improve Health
Modifying one’s habits to make one’s diet and way of life healthier
Taking this pattern into account, it becomes plausible to think that consumers will pay for goods that bring them closer to their targets. Despite popular belief, consumers will continue to spend even after the holidays have ended. The numbers show that people are willing to put a sizable chunk of change toward their aims for the new year.
According to the CBN article, it seems that 56% of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions spend money on keeping them, often hundreds or thousands of dollars. Forty percent will spend less than a hundred dollars, while twenty percent will spend between a million and three million.
People are willing to spend money to get healthier and slimmer, so we need to prepare for this demand by stocking up now.
Dropshipping Strategies: The Valentine’s Day Strategy
The Valentine’s Day strategy is a lot like the one people use at the beginning of the year. It’s common knowledge that on February 14, people all over the world will be spending money on presents and other items associated with Valentine’s Day.
Typical holiday gifts follow a set pattern that remains consistent year after year.
Items of Jewelry and Plush Toys
Temptations like homemade pastries (for which people often purchase the necessary baking equipment) and fetish items.
In this case, you can plan ahead and purchase the appropriate items to maximize profits on Valentine’s Day. So, why not get ahead of the game?
But it doesn’t end here…
Take into account the many holidays and special occasions that fall during this time frame, and consider the kinds of gifts you and your loved ones might like to give and receive.
For that one party where you absolutely must look your best, like Carnival, you might want to invest in a fancy wig or costume.
Local holidays should also be taken into account, such as St. Patrick’s Day, which is widely celebrated in both Ireland and the United States.
Green is the predominant color on St. Patrick’s Day, so if your goods are unique, traditional, or a suitable shade of green, you’ll likely make a sale.
Mark the important dates in Q1 on your calendar and the calendars of the countries in which you sell your products.
Preparing for your eCommence can be aided by doing work of this nature, and deciding what to sell is usually a simple process, since best-sellers from previous years can be easily predicted.
Dropshipping Strategies: choose your products wisely
Things have changed and international trade has recovered to the tune of $4.23 trillion in retail eCommerce sales, but people have also developed new routines in response to these new circumstances.
The decline in international tourism has led to a drop in the number of available international flights, driving up the price of overseas shipments.
Given the current circumstances, available cargo space is lower than it was previously. This is why shipping companies and airlines are becoming increasingly stringent in their volumetric package inspection practices.
Actually, the price of shipping a package depends on two criteria: its weight and its volume. While weight alone is used to determine shipping costs for lightweight items, package volume is also taken into account once it exceeds a certain threshold.
The companies used to be very lenient when packages slightly exceeded the standard volume, but now, due to the new conditions set by Covid, they are much stricter.
To remain competitive in today’s market, smart business owners will adjust to these changes and sell only the most promising goods and services. Select items that aren’t too bulky or heavy; as a rule of thumb, aim to sell only those that weigh less than one kilogram (kg) and can fit inside a standard shoebox.