Editing Merchandising (section)

==Promotional merchandising==
{{Main|Promotional merchandise}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=March 2015}}
{{Globalize|date=September 2019}}

The annual cycle of merchandising differs between countries and even within them, particularly relating to cultural customs like holidays, and seasonal issues like climate and local sporting and recreation. Events such as [[Traditional Chinese holidays|Chinese festival]]s and [[Japanese festivals]] are incorporated in an annual cycle of shop decorations and merchandise promotion.

[[File:London, England (15753498599).jpg|thumb|right|Christmas shopwindow at [[Selfridges]] department store in London with a [[Paddington Bear]] theme to mark the release of the 2014 film ''[[Paddington (film)|Paddington]]'']]
As just one example, in the United States the basic retail cycle begins in early January with merchandise for [[Valentine's Day]], which is not until mid-February. [[Washington's Birthday|Presidents' Day]] sales are held shortly thereafter. Following this, [[Easter]] is the major holiday, while springtime clothing and garden-related merchandise is already arriving at stores, often as early as mid-winter (toward the beginning of this section, [[Saint Patrick's Day|St. Patrick's Day]] merchandise, including green items and products pertaining to Irish culture, is also promoted). [[Mother's Day]] and [[Father's Day]] are next, with [[graduation]] gifts (typically small [[consumer electronics]] like [[digital camera]]s) often being marketed as "dads and grads" in June (though most college semesters end in May; the grads portion usually refers to high school graduation, which occurs one to two weeks after Father's Day in many U.S. states). Summer merchandise is next, including patriotic-themed products with the American flag, placed on the market by [[Memorial Day]] in preparation for [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day]] (with [[Flag Day (United States)|Flag Day]] in between). By July, [[Back to school (marketing)|back-to-school]] is on the shelves and autumn merchandise is already arriving, and at some [[handicraft|arts and crafts]] stores, [[Christmas decoration]]s. (Often, a [[Christmas in July]] celebration is held around this time.) The back-to-school market is promoted heavily in August, when there are no holidays to promote. By September, particularly after [[Labor Day]], summer merchandise is on final [[Closeout (sale)|closeout]] and [[overstock]] of school supplies is marked-down some as well, and [[Halloween]] (and often even more of the Christmas) merchandise is appearing. As the Halloween decorations and costumes dwindle in October, Christmas is already being pushed on consumers, and by the day after Halloween retailers are going full-force with advertising, even though the "official" season does not start until [[Black Friday (shopping)|the day after]] [[Thanksgiving (United States)|Thanksgiving]]. Christmas [[Closeout (sale)|clearance sale]]s begin even before Christmas at many retailers, though others begin on [[Boxing Day|the day after Christmas]] and continue on at least until [[New Year's Day]] but sometimes as far out as February.

The trend of stocking stores with merchandise many weeks prior to the actual event targeted and the period of consumption can be described by the term advance selling. Although it may seem disadvantageous for sellers, advance selling can have the opposite effect. For example, this practice works to counteract a lack of abundant capacity in stores during prime seasons and a lack of value in premature products.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Krista J. |last2=Li |first2=Xi |date=2022 |title=Advance Selling in Marketing Channels |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00222437221112644 |journal=Journal of Marketing Research |language=en |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=371–387 |doi=10.1177/00222437221112644 |s2cid=257154273 |issn=0022-2437 |access-date=2023-04-01 |archive-date=2023-03-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328095832/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00222437221112644 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Merchandising also varies within [[Chain store|retail chain]]s, where stores in places like [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] might carry [[snow blower]]s, while stores in [[Florida]] and [[southern California]] might instead carry beach clothing and barbecue grills all year. Coastal-area stores might carry [[water skiing]] equipment, while ones near [[mountain range]]s would likely have [[Skiing|snow skiing]] and [[snowboarding]] gear if there are ski areas nearby.

=== Silent persuasion ===
As promotional merchandise acquires a larger portion of companies' annual budgets, its appearance in the hands of unintended recipients increases. However, this has been found to generate a positive outcome for companies without any additional effort after producing the merchandise because of the concept of silent [[persuasion]]. The concept theorizes that even without the acknowledgement of the brand being promoted on the merchandise, the individual utilizing it is affected in their future actions as a consumer. Furthermore, a 2019 study found that the tactile usage of the products produced a greater response in consumers than a solely visual interaction with a product such as posters.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kamleitner |first1=Bernadette |last2=Marckhgott |first2=Eva |date=2021-10-03 |title=Silent persuasion. Incidental use of promotional merchandise benefits unfamiliar brands |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02650487.2020.1855823 |journal=International Journal of Advertising |language=en |volume=40 |issue=7 |pages=1135–1159 |doi=10.1080/02650487.2020.1855823 |s2cid=234258933 |issn=0265-0487|doi-access=free }}</ref> This study concluded that considering allotting a greater sum of money to smaller pieces of merchandising that promote a brand would benefit newer companies that have yet to become quickly recognizable.