Seasonal such as Tet and Mid-Autumn Festival are golden occasions for businesses to prepare gifts, promotions or customer appreciation programs. However, the process of purchasing seasonal products is not simple. Many businesses, even though they have been purchasing for many years, still have difficulty in predicting, ordering, delivering and maintaining the quality of gifts. Why is that? The following article will point out common problems that businesses often encounter when purchasing seasonal products and the reasons why these difficulties have not been completely resolved.
1. Time pressure: The season is the “golden” time but also the “sprint time”
For seasonal products such as moon cakes and Tet gifts, the ordering time is often concentrated in a very short period, just a few weeks or a few months before the season. This puts a lot of pressure on the purchasing manager because he has to:
- Find diverse sources of goods, ensuring quality in a short time.
- Negotiate prices and terms quickly, often without time to carefully survey the market.
- Handle the risk of late delivery, shortages or defective goods close to the season, making the job stressful and prone to errors.
2. Difficult to predict demand, leading to inventory or shortages
A difficult problem that businesses often encounter is not accurately predicting the amount of goods to buy:
- Ordering too much will cause high inventory, capital to be stuck for a long time, and the risk of obsolete or degraded goods.
- Ordering too little will not be enough to serve the gift giving program, affecting the business image and customer experience.
Due to the seasonal nature, forecasting must be based on historical data, market trends, forecasts from suppliers… but many businessesp chưa có hệ thống hoặc phương pháp khoa học để làm điều này, dẫn đến sai lệch.
3. Difficulty in choosing a reliable and stable supplier
Because the seasonal market is very “hot”, many suppliers only focus on the peak season, lacking preparation and long-term support. This causes:
- Lack of transparency in information about product quality and production processes.
- Delayed delivery, inconsistent designs and quality between shipments.
- Volatile prices, difficult to negotiate incentives when buying in large quantities or regularly.
Many businesses have to “race” to find suppliers close to the season, wasting time and increasing risks.đua” tìm nhà cung cấp vào sát mùa, làm mất thời gian và tăng rủi ro.
4. Lack of flexibility in purchasing and order management
Businesses often still maintain traditional purchasing processes, lacking technology to support order management, inventory checking, delivery progress tracking, etc., leading to:
- Information is not synchronized between departments (purchasing, warehouse, marketing, sales).
- Difficulty in controlling the quality of each imported shipment.
- Slow detection and handling of order problems.
This reduces operational efficiency and increasesận hành và tăng khả năng phát sinh chi phí ngoài dự kiến.
5. Habit of only buying in season, not making long-term plans
Many businesses only focus on buying when the season is approaching or has already started, instead of planning early and coordinating with suppliers all year round. This causes:
- Great pressure in price negotiations and product selection.
- Lost opportunities to enjoy better prices and new, exclusive products.
- Difficulty in building long-term relationships and receiving preferential support from suppliers.
6. Not optimizing costs and investment efficiency
Many businesses have not carefully calculated the total cost of seasonal purchases, including transportation, storage, personnel costs and other costs. Status:
- Ordering in large quantities but without a reasonable distribution plan, leading to excess or damaged goods.
- No product diversification strategy to suit many customer groups, reducing the attractiveness of gifts.
- Not taking advantage of management and automation tools to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Tips for businesses buying seasonal products
- Plan your purchases early, at least 3-4 months before the season. This gives you time to survey, negotiate, and choose suppliers and products that suit your needs and budget.
- Build long-term relationships with reputable suppliers.
Long-term cooperation helps you get priority delivery, receive technical support, adjust products according to requirements, and get better prices. - Apply technology to manage orders, inventory, and track delivery progress. Use ERP, CRM software or simple management tools such as advanced Excel, integrated Google Sheets, to increase efficiency and reduce errors.
- Diversify gift products, combine different product lines to increase attractiveness and reduce inventory risks.
- Periodically evaluate seasonal purchasing results after each season, learn and adjust strategies for the next season to be more effective.
So:
Buying seasonal products is not just about ordering and receiving goods. It is a strategic process that needs to be planned and managed properly. If you are still “struggling” with familiar difficulties such as late orders, large inventories or poor quality control, try changing the way you plan, choose suppliers, and manage the purchasing process. These changes not only help reduce risks but also bring long-term benefits, helping your business to be more proactive, save costs and increase brand value through each season.
