Leveling Your Supply Chain Or Leveling Your Competition
Leveling Your Supply Chain or Leveling Your Competition by: Tompkins Solutions Staff, Tompkins Solutions By Jim Tompkins CEO, Tompkins International I like the idea of Christmas in July. July is a slow sales month (after the summer season but before the Back-To- School season) and often retail supply chains are slow. So, boosting sales in July is a good idea and a July promotion may not only increase sales, but also offer an opportunity to clear out merchandise before products begin to arrive for the holiday season, leveling supply chain operations. But, Holy cow! If you Google "Christmas in July" you get: • Over 100 clip art designs (Santa on the beach, Christmas stocking by the pool, sand castles of snowmen, palm trees with Christmas lights, and more) • Decorating ideas • Party ideas • Movie/Video promotions • SALES, SALES, SALES Therefore, it is not surprising that, just like everything else, eCommerce is jumping on this band wagon. But wait a minute, Christmas is five months away! I understand that in the southern hemisphere, July is the middle of winter, and in order to preserve the "winter feel" of Christmas you find big celebrations in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and South America. This is not the case here in North Carolina. It is 95 degrees outside and there is no "winter feel". I believe that is the point - to some they get a sense of relief from the heat by thinking about winter and Christmas. Here I sit in my Santa hat on my boat with Christmas lights, listening to "Frosty the Snowman" while eating my Reindeer Crunch ice cream.
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