Why can't retail sell clothing for the CURRENT season

[vision33r]

Originally Posted by ukrkoz

Look, it's really simple.
You need something for current season.
You go to store.
Store does not have exactly what you need for that season.
But, you went to a store.

There is high chance you will buy something else as, psychologically, you are expecting to buy something for that upcoming season anyway. Or, something else caught your interest and you came in "ready to buy" mood anyway.

Lack of item for current season also creates a subliminal fear in you - oh my, what if same happens if I need something for the NEXT season? I better buy it now.
Say, you resisted all this. You went back home and "let me look it up online". Now you definitely buy, as "it was not in the store".

All very simple psychological tactics to sell something. As it does not matter, where you buy and what you buy - it all benefits same people at the top of the food chain.

As I pointed out with online shopping, I usually end up looking for it online and click the button and wait the next day to show up at my door steps.

This is why Amazon wins, it's difficult for a brick and mortar store to stock current and next season merchandise at every store. But I do expect to have a decent amount of stock for current season or else they'll lose my business.

My wife knows that if we don't find it, then she'll find it online and order it. We've frequently walked out of store empty handed if we don't find what we're looking for.

[DanielAvery]

By the middle of June, a lot of the larger retail shops have stopped re-ordering the summer clothing and accessories that they've been carrying since ~March. They're afraid of being "stuck" with a lot of leftover summer fashions when back-to-school hits in ~July, so they choose to essentially run out of things earlier (and sell them at full retail) rather than having to sell a lot of stuff on clearance later on, since many clearance items end up being sold for less than the store paid for them. Clearing out the leftovers at a loss in August is likely preferable to having to constantly move it around while all the BTS fashions arrive, and they probably don't want to have different 'seasons' mixing on the racks. Note how most stores shunt their clearance rack off into corners or low-visibility areas as if it's a leper colony. They want customers to be immersed in the "next big thing" (back-to-school, Christmas, Spring, etc.) and not dwelling on the leftovers...even if that's typically the more popular 'stop" in many shopping trips. My mom used to joke that her favorite designer was "Clarence," and that she would always check out "his" things when she was at the store.

[PilgrimsProgress]

You can find summer clothes online at most stores. They have limited display space in a brick and mortar store

[ChessieMom]

Originally Posted by vision33r

Last summer we tried to buy swimming suits for the kids during late July and most were left overs at Target and Kohls. Then going to malls you'll find them but they are selling for full price. Then at shoe stores we went to look for Sandals and again most popular sizes were gone and no stock everywhere except for big brands at the malls. If you go to Target now, it is school stuff and clothing already. The summer sections are getting skimpier except for women's bathing suit section and my wife complains it's mostly plus sizes left.

This is nothing new. Stores have always stocked for the NEXT season. If they stocked just for the current season, they would wind up with to many unsold clothes and would lose money due to end of the season discounts.