… as much as niche brands boycott them? I explain why I am "against" inflated markups for the sake of seasonal sales, and "for" honest pricing 365 days a year.
Over the past year, giants such as Marks&Spencer, Next and Superdry have openly announced their intention to move away from the culture of seasonal sales and discounts as the main drivers of sales. Why? Because big discounts require overproduction. With millions of tons of clothing produced, the cost of each unit approaches a mathematical error. You may ask - so what? And the bad thing is that, in the name of low cost, major brands CONSCIOUSLY produce much more than people can buy.
Every year, 92 million tons of unsold clothes ariund the world are disposed. That is, every second, somewhere on Earth, a truck throws off a full truckload of clothes to a junkyard. While you have read to this point, 30 such trucks have passed by. And it really painful for me to realize this fact, don't you think?
Local brands don't have factories in China or Bangladesh as well as budgets for tons of products. Therefore, whether they want it or not, they have to produce clothes, shoes and jewelry to order. Orxata is a vivid example.
Our most popular jewelry models, such as the Espacio transforming necklace, the Barcelona transforming rings, the Lisa transforming body chain and the Sol transforming cuff-necklace, are sold every day, so we try to keep them in stock. Less common models we keep in the form of "blanks" - they are fully assembled, but not covered with either gold or rhodium, because the demand for the color is always unpredictable.
Once we receive an order for a specific color, we apply the coating and ship. For the rest of the models, we keep enough materials in the workshop for production. Such jewelry takes up to 5 working days to manufacture, cover and ship. Speaking in restaurant terms, Orчata's clients get absolutely all jewelry from "under the knife".
Hence the logical question - why should we make seasonal discounts? We don't have excess product that has to be dumped by truck somewhere in a landfill. Moreover, half of our assortment is made to order and requires waiting. Our markup is based on the most common formula, which covers production and marketing costs and provides a margin of 15 to 20%. Through simple mathematical calculations, it becomes obvious that for the sake of the 30% discount, I already have to pay my team out of my own pocket.
Why don't I immediately add an extra 30% to the price, which I could painlessly drop? Because I care about Orxata's reputation in the eyes of regular clients. Imagine, you order a whole set of precious jewelry, and in 3 days they cost is lower. This is discounting both the value of the product and the loyalty of people who love and support the brand even at full cost. Therefore, I choose a path that corresponds to my life values: I offer a product at a fair price 365 days a year.
Last year we offered a small Black Friday discount on select models. However, I am not sure that we will repeat it this year - time and the economic situation will show.
Since last month, we have been asked if there will be discounts for Valentine's Day. As you guessed from the previous paragraphs, it is more valuable for us to be honest with you all year long than to push sales for three calendar days. Instead, in some time we plan to introduce a loyalty program for our regular customers, through which we will thank those who love us even without discounts.
Buy Orxata transforming jewelry here.
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