In an ideal world, your business would never have excess or obsolete inventory. However, this can and often does happen when demand for certain products decreases and supply remains steady or increases.
This is not only an issue for your business financially, but if it isn’t handled appropriately it can also lead to wastage, which isn’t good for the environment.
Dealing with excess stock can be problematic, and you need to identify methods to account for the money invested in the excess stock and also consider the impact wastage has on the environment. From discounts to donations, this article looks at how to take care of your excess stock.
Reduced Prices
A great way to get rid of excess stock without losing out financially is by offering customers discounts on the products that are in excess. For instance, you may decide to keep fast-moving items at full retail price, but discount products in the “excess” by anywhere from 10% up.
Everybody loves a bargain so putting excess stock on sale is a great way to encourage customers to spend! This will essentially reimburse you for the money invested in the stock originally. As a bonus, reduced prices mean you are preventing the need to throw away stock and add to the ever-growing mass of junk that is currently plaguing the environment.
Bulk Discounts
Another great way to get rid of excess stock is to use bulk discounts, where you offer customers a deal that gives them more bang for their buck. For example, you might decide to make products that you currently have a surplus of as part of a “2-for-1” deal. Alternatively, you might allow customers, for instance, to buy one product and get the second one free.
This is a great way to drastically reduce the amount of stock crowding your inventory, but you are still working towards earning back the money invested in the stock in the first place. Additionally, you are avoiding the need to throw away large amounts of stock which, as mentioned is not environmentally friendly.
Donate to Charity
If, even after these methods have been exhausted, you still have an excess amount of inventory, you want to do everything you can to avoid having to create wastage and burden the environment with more waste.
While it may come down to drawing a financial loss if you can’t get rid of the excess through discounts and bulk sales, donating to charity is a great way to reduce inventory and avoid wastage. There are hundreds of charities who could benefit from a range of resources, from clothes to canned and packaged food. As an added bonus, being environmentally friendly and providing to charities is also a great way to improve your brand’s reputation in the community.
