New Customers Don't Know That Old Merchandise Is Old Merchandise

This fact keeps popping up, folks.

If you have a COVID-bump ...

... then you need to dig into the stuff that is driving your COVID-bump (click here for your customized project).

Like existing merchandise. A lot of the customers driven by the COVID-bump are coming from search. Within search, Google sure seems to like pushing prospects toward existing items, long-term winners that Google has a significant history "analyzing". When I look at what COVID-bump customers are buying, it's the stuff that has always worked. And why not? New customers don't know that existing merchandise is the stuff that has always worked. So if it has always worked, the numbers "optimize" and you end up preserving your assortment one cycle longer than you expected to preserve it.

Be careful analyzing new merchandise during the COVID-era. What works in October / November 2020 "could" work next year ... but we don't really know that, do we? Your experience, knowledge, and imagination are going to go a long way toward projecting a future assortment.

And for some of you, the fact that new customers don't know that old merchandise is old merchandise is an important finding that has practical (and profitable) ramifications for your future.