Summer is gone. Fall is here. While most people are thinking about the new school year, the World Series and football season, retailers are already thinking about the holidays and how the season – from Halloween and Thanksgiving to Christmas – will affect their fourth quarter and year-end sales numbers because holiday sales make up more than half of their yearly totals.
Thus, it’s crucial for retailers to get it right. If they order too much merchandise, and it doesn’t sell, they’re stuck. If they don’t order enough inventory, and it runs out, then they lose sales. They do their best to predict seasonal demand, but if it were that easy to do so, then every retailer would be in the black every single year.
Retailers order as much as they think will sell during the holidays, but seasonal merchandise and decorations, and the associated fixtures, displays, and signage designed specifically for retailers’ busiest time of the year, can take up precious sales space and clog stock rooms.
This is where portable storage containers can help retailers with their seasonal holiday inventory this and every year. Mobile storage enables large and small retailers keep up with customer demand and easily manage a multitude of inventory types.
Portable storage provides flexible storage options that fit both short-term and long-term needs. It also frees up all-important storage space that could otherwise quickly dissolve into customer service chaos as the holiday season ramps up and employees have to waste time searching for merchandise in cramped and unorganized stock rooms.
How Retailers Use Mobile Storage Units to Prepare for Seasonal Demand
There are many ways retailers use mobile storage units to help their businesses. Some of the most common retail applications for mobile storage containers include inventory management, seasonal fixture and promotional item storage, overstock for busy shopping days, layaway item storage, large/bulk item storage, automotive parts storage and business record storage.
Retail, department, discount, convenience and specialty stores, warehouse clubs and restaurants also rent mobile storage containers for excess equipment storage.
Retailers know that renting or leasing on-site portable storage containers eliminates the need for expensive off-site commercial storage and warehouse space, as well as cuts out the associated transportation costs.
At A.B. Richards – the leading supplier of weatherproof, fireproof, stainless steel, ground-level storage containers in the Northeast since 1982 – we offer retailers 20ft, 40ft and 40ft jumbo (hi-cube) portable storage units that can be easily and affordably rented or leased. In particular, the 20ft container can be obtained for as little $79 per month, which is considerably less than any off-site storage facility. Plus, all A.B. Richards containers are delivered quickly right to your location.
Tips for Retail Seasonal Inventory Storage
Once their storage containers are delivered on premises, retailers can immediately begin moving seasonal inventory inside. The portable storage experts at A.B. Richards offer these simple tips for retail seasonal inventory storage:
- Leave an Aisle: To easily access each item stored, there should be a center aisle. There should also be enough room to retrieve, rotate and move items as needed.
- Take Inventory of All Inventory: Create an inventory list of the items that are placed in storage.
- Label Items and Turn Labels to Face Outward: Everything stored inside the container should have a label that’s easily visible.
- Make Sure Everything Has a Lid: Unboxed items can become dusty and could get ruined, so all small items should be placed in boxes that have lids or otherwise can be closed.
Contact A.B. Richards today to learn more about our storage container renting and leasing options. Our expert staff can answer questions and help choose the exact mobile storage containers that fit specific retail storage needs.
