Get the cash out of stock that stopped selling.
A markdown plan that recovers cash without training your customer to wait, and a reorder discipline that keeps the winners in stock.
- More than a fifth of your stock is older than two seasons.
- You run sales because cash is tight, not because the calendar says so.
- Your bestsellers go out of stock while your slow lines get discounted.
- Your accountant is asking about stock turn and you do not have an answer.
- Your problem is warehousing and fulfilment logistics rather than buying decisions.
Where the money leaks.
Aging stock is a cash problem disguised as a merchandising problem. Every week a unit sits, it costs storage, capital and eventually price. The instinct is to hold price and hope, then discount everything at once when cash gets tight. That sequence recovers the least money and teaches the customer that full price is optional.
The steps, in order.
Age the stock. By style, by season purchased, by weeks of cover remaining.
Classify. Reorder, hold, mark down, bundle, wholesale-out, or write off.
Build the markdown ladder. Depth, timing and sequence, with a floor price per group.
Choose exit channels. Outlet, bundling, wholesale clearance, staff and warehouse sale, charity.
Set the reorder rule. The sell-through and cover thresholds that trigger a repeat buy in time.
Fix the intake. Adjust next season's depth so the same lines do not repeat the problem.
- An aged stock report by style and season
- A classification of every line with a recommended action
- A markdown ladder with dates, depths and floor prices
- A cash recovery forecast by month
- Reorder trigger rules by category
- A revised buy depth recommendation for the next season
Deadstock reduced through customer data-led buying at Rushush
AUD $3,900 inc GST as a scoped project, typically three to four weeks. Ongoing management sits in the Category Partner retainer from AUD $4,500 per month.
Answered plainly.
Uncontrolled and repeated discounting will. A planned ladder with a floor price, a defined window and a clear reason does not. The damage comes from predictability, not from the existence of a sale.
Most plans recover the majority of the identified cash within eight to twelve weeks, depending on channel mix.
Sometimes, for true carryover basics. Rarely for anything seasonal, where the cost of capital and the risk of further ageing usually exceed the price you are protecting.
Prox will give you the commercial recommendation and the numbers behind it. Confirm the tax treatment with your accountant.