Why not do the sales? What is the problem ?

Why are there sales?

The origins of sales

Sales were invented during the 19th century by Simon Mannoury, founder of Petit Saint Thomas, which became Bon Marché in Paris in 1852.*

At this time, the first Parisian department stores flourished, of which Petit Saint Thomas was the precursor in 1830.

Simon Mannoury is a pioneer since he already practices distance selling. He even decides to sell the previous collection at a discount to make room in his stocks.

Sales were now created and soon spread throughout Paris: at Printemps in 1865 or at La Samaritaine in 1904.

The first regulations

Since 1906, the law has regulated the practice of sales in order not to impact the market and to moderate competition.

It is this law which will give the characteristics of the balances that we know today:

• the period is limited in time: twice a year
• the sale product must have been present in the store for at least 1 month
• sales are limited by storage capacities
• resale can be done at a loss

Over the decades, some changes will take place, such as the addition of floating balances which will be removed in 2015.

The duration of the sales is no longer the same : it increased to 5 weeks in 2008, then to 6 weeks in 2015 before settling at 4 weeks in 2019.

What's the problem with sales?

The sales are still based on clearance but the context has changed a lot. Between overproduction, frantic production pace, obsolescence... the idea is no longer to destock but to push consumers to buy much more than they really need.

So, let's try to figure out what the problem is with sales.

Sales are not a good deal

One of the problems with sales today is the fact of acting upstream on prices in order to generate profit while seducing the consumer with reductions the rest of the time.

In the guide to eco-responsible fashion , Alice and Natacha explain to us that to be able to compensate for the financial losses linked to sales, major brands inflate their prices the rest of the year.

Infographic produced by Ethics on Label based on information from FairWear Foundation

As can be seen in the image above, a margin of 59% leaves a lot of flexibility on pricing.

We also realize that the price of the clothes we buy is far from being the right price.

So, when you buy a sale product , there is very little chance that you will end up getting a good deal . Not to mention the brands that increase their prices shortly before the sales to make more profit during the discount.

In addition to this, other unfair practices are emerging, with the sole aim of minimizing financial losses linked to sales. The destruction of stocks (punishable by law) is one of them, or the fact of producing a garment of lower quality for the sole purpose of selling it.

Too many promotions kill promotions: consumers conditioned to sales

“A product that has not been sold in 2 months begins to pose a problem,” according to LSA magazine.

Our clothes and objects are goods that perish faster than a salad in direct sunlight.

To remedy this, major brands offer reductions throughout the year :

• Private sales
• promos
• exceptional offers
• Coupons

One of the problems with sales and other regular promotions is that “each French person buys on average 9.2kg of textiles and shoes per year” according to Ademe . Many of whom almost only buy during the sales period.

You have understood, in these circumstances, the sales no longer make much sense.

Faced with consumers conditioned to low prices , it becomes difficult to sell at “normal” prices the rest of the year.

For this, the fashion industry must find solutions: do promotions all the time and focus on renewal.

Sales push you to overproduce

As you can see, whether online or in store, new products are no longer per season , but all year round.

According to a study by the French fashion institute, relayed by Les Echos : “for 40% of mass-market brands, [collections] are renewed more than 10 times a year.”

But what is the link with the sales?

Reduced prices have become the main purchasing argument for a large part of consumers. But the rest of the year, how do you convince them to buy?

Novelty, and if possible, in small quantities (for the effect of rarity), offers unlimited arguments to attract buyers:

• collaboration
• capsule collection
• limited series

Releasing multiple collections based on a system of constant renewal pushes the consumer to purchase items throughout the year. But that does not mean that the quality is there , quite the contrary.

“Clothing production doubled between 2000 and 2014. We buy twice as much as 15 years ago but keep them for less time. “according to Ademe

This maintains the vicious circle of overconsumption and the dissatisfaction that we all sometimes feel when faced with our overflowing wardrobe or our clothes with holes after the 3rd wash.

This system also offers more and more clothes for sale during sales.

Do you see the vicious circle?

In short: sales aren't really sales since prices are regularly lowered and inflated the rest of the time.

The poor quality of clothing and the constant novelty effect push us to purchase . But the normality of low prices pushes us to refuse to buy without a discount.

So, brands always produce more , always cheaper, and so on.

Alternatives to not going on sale

The problem of sales is much larger than our wardrobe: overproduction and overconsumption maintain a system of exploitation of resources , people and animals which is unsustainable.

Faced with our already well-established habits and the ever-increasing number of arguments to make us buy, how can we fight against the appeal of sales? Here are a few tips.

Ask yourself the right questions

Our way of consuming and purchasing clearly needs to be deconstructed. But where to start ?

Question the brand

To do this, starting by questioning yourself and the brands you buy from is a good starting point.

Look at its social and environmental commitments , the prices it charges, the quality of the clothes it offers.

Then ask yourself if it is in line with your values, if it is this production system that you want to put your money into.

Look at the clothes you have bought in the past during sales or not: were they of good quality? How many times have you changed this or that item of clothing because it had a hole in it? How much did it cost you in total?

Question your own habits

Getting out of the spiral of new products and reductions can also be done by deconstructing the purchasing mechanisms acquired until then.

Before buying an item or item of clothing on sale , you can ask yourself:

• do you need it?
• can you match it with your other clothes?
• how was it made?
• Do you have a similar item of clothing in your wardrobe? or how many such items do you already own?

It is by putting meaning back into what we buy that it will be possible to do things differently, to buy less but better.

China: low prices all year round

Do you want to combine shopping, sustainability and good deals?

Hunting may be the solution!

Second-hand sales can be done all year round at low prices. Plus, you can find pieces as unique as the new collections.

If your wardrobe is too bulky, you can also tell yourself that you won't buy anything new until you get rid of this or that thing.

Balancing the purchase and resale of second-hand goods is surely the ideal solution, but nothing prevents you from turning to new items from time to time, especially if they are durable and ethical products.

Give yourself time

As you will have understood, this approach involves giving yourself more time before purchasing.

Time to question yourself , time to find an alternative or time to check what is behind the desired object.

Even if this may seem impossible given the immediacy of payments, information and deliveries, it is perhaps what will have the most effect.

Giving yourself time to see if it is a desire or a need , if it is necessary or not allows you to align yourself with what you really want.

Don't you think it's better to decide for yourself what you really want to buy?

Buy less but better

Finally, buying less also allows you to turn to more ethical, more sustainable and/or more ecological objects and clothing.

After all, isn't it more economical to buy your t-shirts for €40 and keep them for several years rather than buying t-shirts for less than €10 but having to change them several times? during this year ?

When you start buying less clothing at low prices, you sometimes realize the savings you make in the long term.

It’s easy to accumulate small purchases without seeing them go by. But if we add everything up, the bill can be hefty.

Doing this calculation can help you set a budget for purchasing more ethical and sustainable clothing.

This way you spend the same thing but to buy better quality.

This is why, on Meanwhile Boutique, there will never be sales .

On a daily basis we do our best to:

• promote fair remuneration for creators with a reasonable commission
• promote brands that produce small quantities
• explain the values ​​and work behind each product to show the reasons for their cost

The very logic of today's sales goes against these principles , which is why we prefer to offer discounts on certain items from old collections . Always in agreement with the creators of course.

As was originally the question for the sales, in the end.

And you what do you think ? What is your relationship to sales? Don’t hesitate to share it with us in the comments.

Sources:
South West - Sales: who invented them? When ? Where does their name come from? And does it work?