Dead stock is merchandise that doesn’t sell so it ends up sitting on your store’s shelves or in the warehouse until it’s outdated. Without a good inventory management system, these may linger in your business for months or even years, taking up space that could be used for more profitable products. And, if the inventory doesn’t turn over, you don’t recoup your initial investment from purchasing or manufacturing the goods.
What to Do with Dead Stock
When you’re ready to clear out the old inventory, you have a few options that will allow you to recover some of your investment:
Pairing it with better-selling products as free gifts or bundles
Offering outdated or slow-moving merchandise together with top-selling products will increase their perceived value. Giving a dead stock item as a free gift with purchase will increase the order value and also increase the likelihood of a purchase. In fact, consumers often choose “free” promotions over a discount, even if it’s not the better deal. Similarly, offering dead stock together with best-sellers increases the perceived value of the merchandise. The products are sold for one price, which is typically lower than if the items were purchased separately. As you may have guessed, this approach doesn’t yield a high return, but it will clear out excess inventory and slow-moving items.
Selling it to a close out or liquidation retailer
If you just want to clear out the dead stock quickly, you could sell it off to a wholesaler. They’ll give you one bulk price for everything and then resell it themselves. While this may seem like a low-stress solution, you are very likely going to be leaving money on the table. After all, the wholesaler or liquidator will be the one to keep any profit they make from reselling your goods.
Having a wildly successful promotional sale
When you find your business overstocked and under-capitalized, a well-planned promotional sale will give you a quick sale of surplus inventory. You’ll make room for more profitable merchandise, stimulate new sales, gain an influx of cash, and even reach an expanded customer base.
Executing a promotional sale may seem daunting, but Wingate Sales Solutions has been managing hugely successful retail promotional sales for more than 100 years. During this time, we’ve developed a proven system that can be customized to fit your store’s situation and needs. As a result, we’ve moved millions of dollars’ worth of inventory through our effective promotional sales.
How to Avoid Dead Stock
Once you’ve cleared out your company’s dead stock, it’s important to put processes and systems in place to avoid it from accumulating again.
Start by looking at your current method for managing inventory. Do you track important metrics like inventory turnover ratio, reorder point formula and economic order quantity (EOQ)? If not, this would be a good place to start.
Additionally, it’s important to monitor product sales performance so you can offload poor-performing merchandise before it becomes out-of-date. Of course, product quality should also be considered. Quality assurance standards should ensure your stock meets product specifications, packaging requirements and falls within an established accepted quality limit (AQL).
Learn More
Discover how Wingate Sales Solutions can help clear out your store’s dead stock or excess inventory and give you a quick infusion of sales. Visit us at www.wingatesalesinc.com or call us at 1-888-480-7253 for a free confidential consultation.