Click the image to register for participation KA Hypermarket Management Research/Huang Jing As the lively and bustling Spring Festival draws to a close, while wishing everyone prosperous business, we must also remind you that it's time to consider post-holiday work. As the saying goes, 'If you don't plan for the future, you'll have worries in the present.' When the peak season arrives, suppliers naturally focus their energy and efforts on sales, but after the peak season, what should suppliers do? Fundamentally, although sales have peak and off seasons, as businesspeople, we must never have a so-called 'peak' or 'off' mindset. Specifically, the peak season has its priorities, and the off season has its tasks. For suppliers, it is crucial to reasonably arrange work priorities in different periods, focusing on the right things at the right time, to achieve excellence in both sales and management. Typically, after the Spring Festival holiday, people returning to work may experience 'holiday syndrome,' characterized by low spirits, bad moods, and irritability. Similarly, after the Spring Festival peak sales, suppliers may also experience a 'post-sales holiday syndrome,' manifested in declining sales, customer apathy and pickiness toward promotions, inventory backlog, and account receivable accumulation. When they snap out of the peak season, they realize there are indeed many problems to handle. After the Spring Festival, sales may slow down, but the workload hasn't lessened; in fact, pressure may be even greater. The peak season only brings sales pressure, but after the peak, there is comprehensive pressure. So, what problems must suppliers solve after the Spring Festival peak season?

  1. Inventory Clearance In a sense, sales account for the vast majority of a supplier's work. Every task a supplier undertakes must serve sales. An important part of ensuring sales is to minimize inventory while securing supply. Therefore, whether the inventory plan is scientific and reasonable is crucial for a supplier's sales. Before the holiday, to prepare for the peak season and ensure sufficient stock, suppliers typically increase their stock levels beyond regular inventory. The goal is to prevent 'stockouts' during the Spring Festival. However, when stocking up, suppliers' market forecasts often deviate from actual conditions, leading to overstocking. So, after the holiday, the first task for suppliers is to plan how to deal with this excess inventory in advance, rather than waiting for hypermarket buyers to approach you about inventory issues. And it's proven that when inventory levels are too high in the store, the buyer will definitely come to you. Instead of passively waiting for the buyer to find you, it's better to take the initiative and propose solutions for handling excess inventory. On one hand, this can earn goodwill from the hypermarket for your proactive attitude; on the other hand, it avoids the passive situation of being 'called out' by the store. So, how should you handle the excess inventory? Should it be returned, exchanged, cleared, or transferred? Suppliers must have a clear account in mind and come up with reasonable solutions based on actual conditions. This is good for both the store and yourself. Every year, there are disputes over suppliers unwilling to accept returns or stores returning large quantities, but these can actually be avoided through technical operations. After all, disputes delay business, and business should be conducted harmoniously to generate wealth. Inventory clearance here is not just about the quantity of goods; it also includes checking product packaging and shelf life, especially for food items. This concerns life safety and corporate reputation, and is by no means a trivial matter. After the popularization of chemical knowledge through incidents like 'Sudan Red,' 'Melamine,' and 'Clenbuterol,' both merchants and customers cannot afford to ignore food safety issues. So, take advantage of the post-Spring Festival inventory clearance to carefully inspect all aspects related to product safety. It's better to be prepared. Don't repeat the foolish mistake of selling products past their shelf life; that's a low-level error in poor taste.
  2. Payment Settlement From a sales perspective, the Spring Festival is absolutely a good thing, but from a capital perspective, it may not be something to celebrate. Since Spring Festival sales account for a large proportion of the annual total, it naturally ties up a significant amount of supplier funds. For suppliers, this money spent should be recovered as soon as possible to ensure capital safety. But can it be recovered? How much can be recovered? When can it be recovered? These are all questions. You're happy thinking about Spring Festival sales, but when you think about all those receivables in others' pockets, you can't sleep. Therefore, supplier bosses should assign dedicated personnel to follow up on holiday payment collection. According to each store's procedures, make preparations, reconcile accounts with hypermarkets as early as possible, pay attention to relevant store personnel, and promptly follow up on payment progress. Only with proper preparation, complete procedures, good relationships, and action can you ensure the safety of your company's funds. Generally, after the holiday, hypermarkets also experience a 'peak period' in payments, so they may be tight on funds. To appease suppliers, hypermarkets often arrange payment priority based on supplier importance. Sometimes they may artificially set 'thresholds' for payment to hinder small and medium suppliers from settling accounts smoothly. In such cases, supplier sales representatives should promptly cooperate with the various requirements of the hypermarket to try to remove any restrictions on payment settlement.
  3. Signing Annual Contracts To avoid affecting the Spring Festival peak season business, many stores and suppliers postpone contract negotiations until after the holiday. Therefore, negotiation becomes an important task for both suppliers and stores after the holiday. So, for suppliers, the most important task after the new year is to sign the new annual contract with the store. Typically, during this period, the salesperson responsible for the store's business, along with their supervisor, will visit some store buyers and senior managers. The purpose is to deepen understanding so that in the new annual contract, the store can provide more resources to the supplier. However, contract negotiations are not something that can be settled in one or two meetings. After all, sales are over, data is available, and last year's cooperation situation is clear. It's time to summarize the rights and wrongs and sit down to discuss the contract properly! How to negotiate the annual contract is a separate detailed topic, so I won't elaborate here.
  4. Last Year's Summary Spring Festival sales best reflect the annual sales situation. Once the Spring Festival is over, all of last year's sales data is available. Doing business is about accounting. Suppliers also need to calculate their profitability from last year. On one hand, they should conduct a comprehensive review of all aspects of their business from last year; on the other hand, based on last year's lessons and experiences, they should set this year's sales goals and plans. Otherwise, it's a muddled account. Without knowing last year's profitability and the amount, how can you formulate next year's work plan and goals?
  5. Off-Season Market Promotion Plan The Spring Festival peak season is important, but there is only one Spring Festival a year, and regular sales still need attention. As the saying goes, 'A feast is good, but three meals a day are also important.' Relying solely on the Spring Festival won't work; regular sales must be carried out step by step. Suppliers should design off-season market promotion plans based on factors such as post-holiday market conditions, seasonal factors, product characteristics, and customer consumption habits. Plan first, act accordingly, stay calm during the peak season, and don't panic during the off season. This way, business can be healthy and sustainable.
  6. Sales Team Adjustment Outstanding business performance is not achieved by one person alone; it requires an excellent sales team. Therefore, for suppliers, building a 'capable and battle-ready' sales team is not only a valuable human resource but also a reflection of the company's competitive strength. After a year of operations, how have the sales personnel performed? In which areas do they need further training? What kind of people need to be eliminated or recruited in the new year? These are all considerations suppliers need to address. After all, only by rectifying your sales team after the peak season can you ensure that your sales team is combat-ready when the next peak season arrives. In summary, after the new year, suppliers should focus their work on internal management. On one hand, adjust operational issues reflected in business data; on the other hand, optimize the business environment through internal management. As the saying goes, 'Sharpening the axe won't delay the wood cutting.' Post-holiday organization of various operational aspects is like 'sharpening the axe' before 'cutting wood.' Only by sharpening the axe can you cut wood more efficiently. In the new year, suppliers' sales performance can 'reach new heights.' Author: Huang Jing Huang Jing, expert in hypermarket backend system design and researcher on supplier-retailer relations. With over ten years of professional procurement experience, from large state-owned retail enterprises to foreign hypermarkets, she has served as procurement section chief, procurement manager, procurement director, and training director, possessing relatively complete experience in the modern retail industry. She has conducted in-depth research on supplier-retailer relations, especially systematic research on procurement issues, negotiation issues, fee issues, contract issues, and various conflict resolution issues that concern suppliers.