Introduction: When products fail to sell at the retail level, it simply means "God isn't opening his wallet." Why doesn't God open his wallet, or why does he open it for others instead of buying your product? Our research has found that under the following 12 circumstances, products are likely to fail to sell:
- Customers are "captured" by competitors.
- Your brand is not in the customer's consideration set.
- Customers don't see your product.
- Customers believe your product doesn't meet their needs.
- Customers perceive your product as defective.
- Customers think your product's price is not worth it or is too low.
- Customers dislike your product's packaging or style.
- Customers consider your product a generic or off-brand.
- Customers think your product is outdated.
- Customers notice your product is nearing its expiration date.
- Customers find your promotional activities unattractive.
- Customers find your promotional activities untrustworthy.
To solve these problems, we need to see through the surface to the essence and find solutions. Based on the phenomena of products not selling and the products themselves, we have conducted a categorized study and summarized the following solutions:
10 Types of Non-Selling Phenomena and Solutions
1. Few people come to buy this product; occasionally a little is sold. Solution: Review the degree of correspondence between the product and the target consumer group's needs. If the correspondence is high, it indicates consumers lack awareness of the product, so strengthen terminal promotion by adding sales guides and stimulating retailer enthusiasm. If the correspondence is low, the product lacks appeal to consumers, so enhance its appeal and promote impulse buying by lowering prices or implementing consumer promotions.
2. Product turnover is slow; those who bought it don't come back. Solution: First, expand the new consumer base to increase the initial purchase rate. Second, identify the reasons for slow turnover: if quality is poor, improve it; if packaging is bad, change it; if the price is too high, lower it. If the company cannot address these issues, consider discontinuing the product.
3. The product simply doesn't sell at the retail level, and the market demands returns. Solution: This indicates the product fails to meet consumer needs. First, select specific regions for concentrated "clearance sales." Second, "recall" products that are difficult to handle in some markets back to the company.
4. During new product launches, new market development, or when competitors use short-term aggressive promotions to suppress, products may temporarily fail to sell. Solution: This is a normal non-selling phenomenon. Marketers should not be overly hasty, avoiding price cuts, buy-one-get-one-free offers, or other "follow competitors to mutual destruction" vicious competitive tactics that could damage the product's brand image and lifecycle.
5. The product has been failing to sell for a longer period, not temporarily. Solution: Systematically examine the product's core strength, sales push, and brand pull. Identify weaknesses in each force and comprehensively adjust and enhance them.
6. The product fails to sell in all markets. Solution: This phenomenon mostly indicates significant problems with the product itself. Lock down regions and concentrate on digesting existing channel inventory.
7. The product fails to sell in some regional markets. Solution: Review the differences between the product and local consumer habits. If the product is unsuitable for local consumption habits, temporarily exit that region. If it is suitable, investigate the promotion methods and sales work in that region, then adjust and improve.
8. The product fails to sell in individual markets. Solution: This is mainly due to insufficient sales push in those markets. Therefore, review the work of sales representatives and distributors, introduce advanced experiences and promotion methods from other markets, and adjust sales personnel or distributors if necessary.
9. The product fails to sell in different channels within the same market. Solution: Different channels cover different consumer profiles, and the same product may not suit all channels in the same market. First, reposition and classify the sales channels. Second, adopt different promotion methods for different channels.
10. The product fails to sell in different areas within the same market. Solution: These areas are typically weak spots for the company in that market. The reason for non-selling in these areas is not the product but the combination of push and pull forces and operational rhythm. Analyze the promotion difficulties in these areas one by one, considering the competitive landscape, competitor characteristics, consumer traits, and channel features, and develop a special promotion plan for the area.
6 Types of Non-Selling Products and Solutions
1. New products fail to sell. Solution: First, investigate the correspondence between category positioning, brand personality, product function, form, price, packaging, etc., and target consumer needs. Diagnose whether it is a temporary, normal non-selling or a non-temporary, abnormal one. If the former, simply follow the established promotion plan. If the latter, adjust the product's price and promotion methods, reposition and improve the product, and if necessary, stop promoting the new product.
2. Old products fail to sell. Solution: The main reason is that the product is in decline. Besides low channel profits and poor promotion enthusiasm, consumers have lost interest. The solution is to replace old products with new ones, even if the new product is "old wine in a new bottle" or "same medicine, different name," which may solve the problem.
3. Well-known products fail to sell. Solution: Many products gain fame quickly through event marketing or strong media exposure. For such products, the most important method is to continuously update and enrich the product line, transitioning from the "well-known product" stage to the "well-known brand" stage.
4. Unknown products fail to sell. Solution: Unknown products are not necessarily bad; well-known products all started as unknown. For unknown products, first find a marketing model that leverages market and external resources to achieve successful sales despite the lack of recognition.
5. Products that have raised prices fail to sell. Solution: Price increases should occur under two conditions: when the industry trend dictates it, or when the company has the ability to lead the market. In these cases, non-selling after a price increase is temporary and normal. Outside these conditions, companies should maintain price stability; even if raising prices, it should be "a nominal increase without a real increase."
6. Growth products fail to sell. Solution: Growth products may face aggressive competition and temporarily fail to sell. At this time, growth products should "avoid the enemy's strength and strike at weakness" and "use the opponent's force against them," rather than "fight head-on," thereby finding their own advantages and development space in sales promotion methods.
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