Separating seasonal from evergreen: an end to the January cliff

Every year followed the same shape: a frantic Q4, a January collapse, and eight months of paying storage on seasonal inventory while the team waited for the next peak. The account was managed as one thing, so evergreen products — frames, vases, mirrors that sell all year — were competing for budget and attention with holiday décor during the only period when holiday décor matters.

In the off-season the opposite happened: advertising was cut to preserve cash, which suppressed the evergreen products at precisely the time of year when they were the only thing selling.

We split one catalog into two businesses with different rhythms.

• Evergreen line defined and defended — the always-on products got their own budget that is never raided for Q4.
• Seasonal line run as a campaign with a start and an end — including a defined exit: markdown schedule and storage-aware sell-through targets.
• Listing work timed to each line's season — evergreen SEO in spring, seasonal creative in late summer, instead of everything at once in October.
• Inventory planned per line, which is where the storage saving came from.

Off-season revenue grew from $80k to $184k a month — +130% — and the year grew 47% overall.

Q4's share fell from 62% to 41%, not because peak shrank but because the other nine months finally grew. Storage cost dropped 37% as seasonal stock stopped wintering in Amazon's warehouses. The brand's cash cycle is the quiet win: it no longer spends three quarters financing one.