Because the life of your business is dependent on your ability to keep cash flowing in from your customers or clients, if you’re not moving your inventory quickly, you could be losing a lot of money. If this situation gets too out of hand, you may even find yourself getting desperate to move your old inventory by taking huge cuts or even paying to get items out of your stock. But before you take drastic measure, there are some things you can do that might help jumpstart the sale of your inventory. To show you how, here are three ways to quickly get your excess inventory moving.
Consider Physically Rearranging
Especially if you’re running a brick-and-mortar retail store, the physical location of your inventory could affect the speed in which it sells. To combat this, Patricia M. Johnson, a contributor to RetailOwner.com, recommends trying to do some physical rearranging that might spark some interest in your customers. If you have newer products that are complimentary to your older inventory, consider displaying these items close to each other with the older inventory at a cheaper rate. This could be just what you need to entice more purchases. Also, consider putting your excess inventory in high-traffic areas of your store to get more eyes on these items and hopefully get them moving.
Hold A Sale
As your desperation to get your inventory moving increases, you may want to consider holding a sale on these items. While selling these items at a discount won’t get you the return that you initially expected on them, you’ll at least be getting some money for these goods. According to Grant Thomas, a contributor to Business2Community.com, you should plan to sell these items for at least a 30 to 75 percent discount. However, you should also be aware that holding too many sales in short succession can be harmful to the life of your business. Your customers may lose interest in your sales and assume that your original retail prices are too high to even consider purchasing items before they go on sale. So before you choose to hold a sale, consider how this decision could affect the rest of your business.
Donate It To Charity
If you feel that you need your excess inventory gone regardless of how it happens, you may want to resort to donating it to charity. While you won’t get any cash coming into your business from this option, Gary C. Smith, a contributor to Entrepreneur.com, shares that donating your inventory will instantly give you space to bring in newer, fresher inventory. Also, anything you donate to charity can be beneficial come tax time. So while you might not make money off selling these items now, you could deduct the donation from your taxes next April.
If you’re needing to get some of your excess inventory sold or at least out of your stock, use the tips mentioned above to help you do just that.
You must be logged in to post a comment.