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The spring and summer months of the year are thought of as the best by most people. However for some businesses they can mean a slowdown in business and a massive downturn in profits. There are many different reasons for this, and it by no means applies to all businesses either. Similarly to how we only want or need certain products at certain times of the year, the summer time means that there are many things that we need less of.

In the winter time for example in most places it is too cold to spend much time outdoors. This means that sales of entertainment items such as dvds, board games and video games go up. The sales of outdoor activities by contrast goes down, for example sporting equipment or barbecue apparatus. In short we are all a lot more active in the summer months than we are in the winter time. Where in the winter we might want to stay home and buy some form of entertainment to occupy us. In the summer we are more likely to be doing something active that requires little money to be spent.

A lot of businesses, particularly in the retail sector also tend to focus more on the winter time because of the holidays that are celebrated then. They know that because of people buying gifts at this time of year they are shopping a lot more than usual. In fact many retailers rely on the Christmas period for making them a profit all year long, often running at a loss the rest of the year.

Because of this focus on the winter time, the rest of the year is seen as the lead up to this time. Many businesses are happy to accept that the rest of the year might be fairly quiet in terms of sales so long as the winter time is busy. the spring time especially is seen as time of year when people have the least amount of disposable income after the winters holidays, meaning that they spend less.

The summer months by contrast produce low sales because of the fact that people are busy with other activities. A lot of people tend to go on vacation in the summer months for example, or pursue more outdoors hobbies. The fishing industry as well as the camping industry have their busiest time in the summer months. Many other retailers by contrast, such as dvd rental or toy manufacturers have their slowest period then.

There are some industries also that have consistently steady and stable sales all year round. For example clothes manufacturers that sell both summer and winter ranges, or stores that sell essential products such as bread and milk, or newspapers. The sale of these products isn't affected at all by the weather or seasons, because hot or cold, they are still needed by most people.

So in fact it really isn't the case that businesses in general tend to slow down in the spring and summer months. The reality is that there are just different types of businesses and different retail sectors that are going through their own busy times. This shows us that to an extent many products are more seasonal than they might appear to be. Most people when asked to name a seasonal product would say ice cream. Obviously more is eaten in the summer then the winter. But it seems to be that all non essential retail products are seasonal to some extent.

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