Stale inventory is bad for your business and hurts your cashflow.
Not only does old stock tie up your cash flow. It also takes up precious space, balloons your storage charges, and raises your insurance premiums. Ultimately, the goods may have to be written off because they’ve become obsolete.
Luckily, there are many ways of turning redundant stock into cash.
Here’s how.
#1. Sell it to inventory liquidators
Inventory liquidators are always on the lookout for surplus stock. They offer a quick and easy market for your excess merchandise by buying it at a discount — and, they can buy entire inventories.
#2. Sell it through your own outlet store
If your retail has an outlet store, sell your merchandise there. You can make even more money off your outlet store than your retail stores.
If you don’t have your own outlet store, goTRG can help you create your own branded outlet or liquidation website.
#3. Sell via Omni-Channel marketplaces
The more places you can sell your product, the better. We prefer to have our clients listed on 20+ marketplaces at any given time. With the right technology, you can easily manage listings according to brand guidelines on as many marketplaces as needed.
#4. Implement dynamic pricing
If you are currently using fixed pricing, the easiest way to immediately improve sales velocity is to implement dynamic pricing. Dynamic pricing allows you to adjust prices in conjunction with demand, moving more product and optimizing revenue in the process.
#5. Use AI to drive pricing
Taking dynamic pricing to the next level, true AI can constantly improve and optimize pricing. This type of technology is brand new, and our own 9040™ pricing engine is the only system on the market that continuously tracks pricing data over 1,000 sites and provides instant dynamic pricing for over 38 million UPC
templates.
#6. Do a BOGO sale
A Buy One Get One Free (BOGO in short) sale is another way of moving surplus stock fast. People love these sweet deals and they can gobble up your products fast.
#7. Bundle your products and discount them
Grouping similar products and offering a good discount can move your surplus goods fast.
#8. Do a flash sale
A flash sale, where you offer huge discounts can clear your dusty inventory in no time. Flash sales work because the goods are only available for a short limited time hence people rush to buy.
#9. Use extra stock to draw new customers
Ask your current customers to bring their friends by offering your products as incentives for those who do so. People just love free stuff and will gladly oblige. In return you get new customers, a win-win situation.
#10. Reward your loyal customers
Pay back your most loyal customers by giving them your extra stock. They’ll be elated and buy more from you. They’ll also rave about you to their friends who’ll become warm prospects.
#11. Have a clearance sale
Holding a clearance sale is one of the fastest ways to clear dust-gathering stock and get cash to stock up.
#12. Organize a private sale on Stokkly
Stokkly brings buyers looking for excess inventory and business with unsold goods together. Through private sales you can get rid of slow moving inventory and get attractive profit margins.
#13. Cross-sell to your customers
Use your e-mail marketing software to target customers who have bought a similar product in the past and offer them your old stock at a good price.
#14. Upsell to fresh purchasers
When someone has just bought from you, quickly offer them your old inventory as well. Many will take up your offer.
#15. Barter with other companies
Engaging in corporate barter can also help you dispatch your outdated goods and get value for your company. For everything corporate barter related check out Barter News.
#16. Sell via targeted email campaigns
Reaching out to customers who bought similar products in the past and offering them discounts can move your redundant inventory. Today’s email marketing software makes this easy to do.
#17. Sell to new customers locally
You can sell your spare stock at low prices to get new customers locally. Go to areas where your brand is unknown. This can move a significant amount of inventory.
#18. Sell to new customers overseas
Overseas markets can snap up your old inventory at reasonable prices. However, this only works when you want to move big volumes. Make sure you crunch the figures to make the whole campaign worthwhile.
#19. Auction them
A good old auction can be an outlet for your old stock. Sometimes, the prices you get there might be higher than expected.
#20. Return products to suppliers for cash
If you have a good relationship with your suppliers, you can return excess inventory to them. Also, have a system to track and flag products whose return date is close. Most modern inventory management software has the capability to flag products whose return date is nearing.
#21. Sell to Wholesale Closeout Companies
While Wholesale closeout companies are similar to liquidators, they’re different. They look for merchandise with value and pay much more for it. Closeout buyers are flexible. They can buy all your existing inventory, pick it up immediately, and perform any sorting and relabeling which may be required.
#22. Hook new customers for life
Pamper your first-time buyers by giving them your old inventory as a free bonus. This’ll generate a lot of excitement and make them stay with your brand longer. This way you’ll increase the customers’ lifetime value.
#23. Sell through direct mail
Finally, you can sell through offline direct marketers.
Conclusion
There you have it…23 ways to dispose your old inventory. By using these creative ways to get rid of your excess inventory you can:
- save on storage costs.
- create room for fresh stock.
- market your brand.
- break even.
- minimize losses.
- or even make a profit.
Pick the strategy which fits your context and go for it. You may be pleasantly surprised by the stellar results.
