The end of the Chinese New Year holiday marks the conclusion of a brief sales peak in the retail industry. For fresh food merchants, the market typically enters a slow season in March and April. However, this does not mean that merchants can only passively wait for the market to recover. On the contrary, this period is crucial for adjusting strategies, optimizing layouts, and enhancing competitiveness. The following are comprehensive suggestions from Food Exhibition on how fresh food merchants can seize post-holiday opportunities after the Chinese New Year.

I. Product Management: Adjust Structure and Control Quality

Adjust Product Structure

During the Chinese New Year, gift boxes and high-end festive fresh products often sell well, but demand plummets afterward. Merchants should promptly adjust their product structure, reducing inventory of these items and increasing seasonal fresh products such as spring bamboo shoots, Chinese toon, and horsehead amaranth. Meanwhile, introducing ingredients suitable for spring health preservation, like yam and goji berries, can meet consumers' needs for spring wellness.

Optimize Inventory Management

Cleaning up the remaining inventory from the Chinese New Year is a key post-holiday task. Merchants should promote or return overstocked goods to avoid capital tie-up and spoilage of fresh products. Additionally, based on post-holiday market demand forecasts, they should adjust inventory levels reasonably, adhering to the first-in-first-out principle to ensure the quality of fresh products.

Control Product Quality

The quality of fresh products is the lifeline of merchants. They should strictly screen suppliers to ensure the high quality of fresh products. Strengthen quality monitoring in procurement, transportation, and storage, regularly inspect and test fresh products, and promptly deal with spoiled or substandard items.

II. Marketing Strategy: Focus on Promotions and Uniqueness, Expand Sales Channels

Launch Promotional Activities

Consumers are more price-sensitive after the holiday. Merchants can introduce special-priced items, such as certain leafy vegetables and common fruits. They can also set up discount activities (e.g., $20 off for every $100 spent) or offer exclusive benefits to members, such as double points, to attract purchases.

Create Unique Marketing

Establish a "Spring Health Preservation Fresh Zone" to showcase health-oriented ingredients. Introduce "Tasting Packages" that combine newly available seasonal fresh products. Utilize social media platforms to create attractive images and videos introducing unique fresh products and promotional activities to attract consumer attention.

Expand Sales Channels

Strengthen cooperation with nearby restaurants and canteens to provide bulk fresh food delivery services. Meanwhile, leverage e-commerce platforms and community group buying to expand sales coverage and break through the limitations of physical stores.

III. Operational Management: Optimize Allocation and Improve Efficiency

Optimize Staff Allocation

Adjust staff schedules reasonably according to post-holiday business volume, allowing employees to take staggered vacations. Meanwhile, train employees to enhance service levels and professional skills, such as fresh food knowledge and display techniques, to better serve consumers.

Enhance Shopping Environment

Conduct a comprehensive clean-up and organization of the store to ensure neat shelves and orderly product displays. Add some spring-themed decorations to create a comfortable and cozy shopping atmosphere, improving the consumer experience.

Strengthen Cost Control

Analyze the composition of various costs, optimize procurement, transportation, and storage, and reduce operational costs. Negotiate with suppliers for more favorable purchase prices and manage inventory turnover rates reasonably to minimize capital tie-up.

IV. Customer Service: Fast Response and Value-Added Services

Improve Response Speed

Ensure that customer service staff promptly respond to customer inquiries and complaints, quickly resolving issues through channels such as phone and WeChat. Record and analyze customer feedback to continuously improve service quality.

Provide Value-Added Services

Offer home delivery services for customers with large purchases or those who are less mobile. Provide fresh food processing and cleaning services for customers. Conduct customer satisfaction surveys to collect feedback and enhance customer loyalty.

If you would like to learn more about the food industry, please visit the SIAL China website for more information.

Source: DePin Fresh

If there is infringement, please contact delete.