Overstock is an inevitable – and necessary – aspect of running a typical retail business. A functional store is one that has stock ready to replace products that have been sold. If a constant flow of saleable items isn’t available, this can severely harm a company’s profit margins, reputation, and ability to retain customers.
However, too much inventory overstock can become a serious problem. It’s also something that can happen to any business, both big and small. You can use quantifiable data and past experiences, you can plan product purchases and inventory management as much as possible – but overstock can still crop up. With the help of technology, one can use tools like Retail Stocktake software to have a proper record of inventory.
If you’re struggling with your excess inventory, here are four tactics to deal with overstock.
1. Use online outlets
In this day and age, it’s likely your retail business already operates online in some form. If this includes your own ecommerce store and sales have trickled to a stop, there are other avenues you can take to reduce overstock.
This includes selling products via different online platforms. This can be through Amazon, for instance, where you can even ship your stock to the retailing giant and let them take care of transactions. Doing this using Amazon agency UK can be wise in terms of getting your products in front of more eyeballs.
eBay can also be useful in shifting stock and, through auctions, finding out what people are willing to pay for your overstock products.
2. Store your stock
Overstock doesn’t necessarily mean you have products that cannot be shifted. It might be a situation where sales are slow, but it’s worth waiting for each sale rather than reducing the price and aiming to speed up transactions, especially when considering Amazon Marketplace inventory management. In this case, you may simply want to free up space with additional storage.
One solution in that regard is storage pods. This is a portable storage option that provides much more flexibility and efficiency than a regular storage unit. It’s also great for keeping space free in your current storage solution, meaning there’s no issue purchasing additional inventory.
3. Run promotions
Shifting your overstock can be done by simply incentivizing your customers. There are various promotions you can run that will grab the attention of your audience, and this can result in quickly moving on your unwanted inventory.
As for promotions, this could be a limited time sale which includes a significant price reduction on your overstock. Another example is to provide a free gift once a customer spends a certain amount of money. Add in the fact promotions make for a great marketing opportunity, and this is a great way to drive people to your store and get rid of your overstock – it’s a win-win.
4. Bundle products together
If it makes sense, there’s the possibility to bundle together one of your slow-moving products with a hot seller. Say your slow mover is priced at $20, the hot seller at $40. You could then bundle these two products together and sell them at, say, $50. This provides customers with a perceived bargain and $10 saved, while you can get rid of your surplus inventory quicker.
