Should I put my best-selling styles on sale during a summer clearance?
No. Styles with sell-through above 70% or fewer than 4 weeks of supply are selling themselves. Discounting them wastes margin for no reason.
“A regular customer walked in, looked around the floor, and said — out loud, to my associate's face — 'I'll wait for the sale.' I trained her to do that.”
It can feel tempting to put everything on sale for a consistent customer experience, but marking down a strong seller is one of the most common margin mistakes boutiques make. If a style has a sell-through rate above 70% or fewer than 4 weeks of supply at its current pace, it does not need help — it is already doing the work.
Discounting a well-performing style costs you pure profit and can actually confuse customers who were perfectly willing to pay full price. It also trains shoppers to expect discounts on everything, which creates the dreaded 'I'll wait for the sale' behavior that takes seasons to undo.
Keep your best performers at full price and let the tiered markdown ladder handle only the styles that genuinely need velocity. Your blended margin will be significantly healthier at the end of summer as a result.
Listen to the full episode: Episode 25: How to Price Your Summer Sale to Protect Margins While Clearing Inventory (The Math Every Boutique Needs)
More answers from this episode
- How do I build a tiered markdown ladder for my boutique's summer sale?
- How do I calculate my true cost per piece for boutique inventory?
- How do I create a weekly markdown dashboard for my boutique?
- How do I set up Shopify compare-at price for a sale correctly?
- Should I discount basics and trendy pieces the same way during a summer sale?
- Should I try anything before putting summer inventory on sale?
Source: BoutiquePulse podcast. Last updated: 2026-06-03 · Sourcing & methodology · Corrections log