STEADYING BUSINESS 
SEASONAL DISCOUNT 
A large food cannery, on the other hand, has found that 
“deferred dating is of no value unless accompanied by special 
discount,” but that the latter, “under certain conditions, 
causes jobbers to increase their stocks.” Numerous other 
manufacturers have had a similar experience. To many 
dealers a discount on advance orders is far more convincing 
than are any other advantages of early ordering. A producer 
of duplicating machines finds that offering a properly timed 
discount attracts a good volume of sales at the season when 
demand formerly slackened. At times when consumption 
warrants he also offers coupons for the supplies to be used with 
his machines. A preserver of fruits writes, “One [method] we 
use in off seasons is to sell the retailer a deal of all of our five 
products. He gets a generous discount on this deal but the 
proportion of each product he must buy is determined by us.” 
In other words, this concern combines the seasonal discount 
with a plan for development of the market for its dovetailed 
products. 
A builder of heating apparatus systematically adjusts his 
prices from season to season. The lowest price is set in Febru- 
ary, March and April; it is raised by 214 per cent. during the 
next quarter, May, June and July, then by another 214 per 
cent. in August, September and October; it is lowered in 
November, December and January 214 per cent. from the 
previous quarter. This policy of rewarding the customer who 
plans and orders well in advance of his need, and penalizing 
those who order late, has had a powerful stabilizing effect on 
this highly seasonal business. 
SEASONAL ADVERTISING 
The search for advance orders, with or without preferential 
prices and similar inducements, is often made easier by properly 
timed publicity. Among other sales management devices. 
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