How retailers are selling the Sales

In the 1990s, a mid-sized US department store chain was in the habit of putting up the sign ‘Assistant Buyer’s Regrets’ across its windows and rails of unloved stock when it was Sale time. The line still has the capacity to sum up the mood of many when it comes to clearing unwanted inventory and also brings to mind the words of a senior buyer at about the same time: “I can tell you exactly how much we’ll sell at the beginning of a season…I just can’t say what price we’ll sell at.”

A time of remorse, therefore, but markdowns are a fact of retail life and getting ‘clean’ in preparation for new stock is as much part of the calendar as anything else. The way retailers approach the matter of clearance, however, varies widely, and for some – think Harrods – it is a highly marketable event just like any other promotion.

Westfield London provides a fine opportunity to see what retailers are doing with the summer Sale currently, with a very broad series of marketing messages and shopper calls to action. The White City megamall has the bulk of the high street majors: fashion and general merchandise – as well as a fair showing from the luxury brands and merchants – so this is a good place to assess the current state of play.

Radley

Think Radley and think bags. An extension of this line of thought means that when it comes to Sale time it’s an idea to put giant Sale shopping bags in the window – coloured red, naturally.

This is an incredibly simple and low-cost way of getting the message out there and, when coupled with a relatively discreet decal on the window stating ‘Up to 60% off’, it was little surprise that shoppers on a quiet morning were stopping to give this one the once over. It’s not always straightforward to make the association between product and marketing message, but this is one of the best attempts around currently.

Pink

Better-end shirt retailer Pink goes for the strikingly obvious with its window, featuring sale banners in hot pink, set against a black background. Pink does what Radley does, although this involves playing with the name of the shop and its associations, rather than the product it houses.

The fact that there is ‘50% off’ and that there are ‘further reductions’ could almost be missed as these messages are picked out in grey on the window line. The best Sale campaigns and those most likely to draw in passing shoppers are those that do something a little different from the normal advertising that displays ever-greater percentage discounts on the stock that lies inside. Thomas Pink shows how this can be done.

H&M

For a fairly old-fashioned take on sale treatments, H&M provides a prime example, featuring what could be an overwhelming quantity of red bunting. This has, however, been carefully deployed. This is Sale period, so H&M has brought its reductions forward and placed them in a return area on the left-hand side at the front of the shop. Within this space it’s a blitz of red signage with a white font suspended over every rail and with each piece of equipment price promoted. New Look does something of the kind in Westfield, but unlike that retailer, at H&M it is abundantly clear where the reduced stock ends and the new merchandise begins. A simple exercise in price point promotion aimed at a very quick clearance.

Uniqlo

What can only be called a Sale tower of power describes what has been done by Uniqlo to grab the gaze of passing shoppers. The massively high windows either side of the entrance are divided into a series of dark rooms with nothing in them other than a male mannequin, a female mannequin and a sale banner, the latter composed in a very traditional manner.

Glance through the door and the markdown activity is equally obvious. There is nothing subtle about this, but then isn’t that the point about a sale window – too clever and it ceases to be any kind of megaphone-led promotion and veers towards a come hither strategy, which is fine in normal circumstances, but not at clearance time.

Replay

Italian denim brand Replay can normally be relied on to come up with something interesting at Sale time and this window scheme confirms that it understands how to create a stir.

Long, unfurled till rolls are suspended from wooden spools with the word SALE printed in red between the numbers of imaginary items that have been purchased.

This is one of the more original ways of telling shoppers that there are bargains at that store, although whether shoppers will find this sufficiently compelling to step inside or whether it proves to be merely an interesting arty distraction is a moot point. Indeed, clever as it is, it would be easy to wander past this one and view it as some kind of denim brand installation, rather than a Sale.

Suit Supply

This is a modest sale treatment, but is virtually unmissable. Suit Supply has taken a fairly low profile clothing category and turned in into a mass-market fashion event. The somewhat retro 1950s signage that it has placed at the bottom of its window keeps faith with its quirky visual merchandising approach.

It is, of course, helped by the fact that two of the mannequins happen to be a high-gloss red, which, if you didn’t know better, you might be forgiven for thinking had been wheeled out to help with the Sale effort. They have not and are in use in this store throughout the year.

Habitat

It doesn’t really matter that the name over the door is Habitat. It could equally be Allied Carpets or a number of other high-profile retailers because the truth is that this is a classic piece of restructuring by Sale, courtesy of Hilco. As such, and bearing in mind that this branch is one of the London stores that hasn’t made the stay-open grade, the message is very, very shouty.

This is certainly Habitat Westfield’s ‘last ever Sale’, and in case there were any doubt, doors, windows and ceiling have been plastered with this message. Don’t expect to see the like of it again, at least until there’s another sale by Hilco: it uses more or less the same Sale banners everywhere.

Desigual

By far the most effective shopfront in Westfield was Desigual, which paraded a mass of Sale red T-shirts as overhead banners. These drew the eye and, while making it clear there was a Sale on by dint of their colour, were a more original treatment than the generic red circular decals used by others.

There were also giant T-shirts in the windows bearing an “I heart 50% off” slogan – in keeping with the brand’s contemporary feel.

A high-impact LED screen, bearing the -50% promotion as well as showcasing markdowns, added energy to the fascia, again making it more noticeable than those of neighbouring stores. Internally, the shop was neatly laid out with the “I…” theme writ large across the floor.

This was a busy and energetic showing, with the mood tempered by the outsize Sale T-shirts in the window. The Spanish retailer has clearly thought through its Sale strategy with a strong and engaging execution.