Dead Stock
Also known as: obsolete inventory
Inventory that is not selling and is unlikely to sell, tying up cash and space.
Dead stock is inventory that has stopped selling and is unlikely to sell in a reasonable timeframe. It might be seasonal leftovers, discontinued lines, over-ordered items, or products that never found demand.
Dead stock is expensive in two ways: the cash you spent on it is trapped, and it occupies warehouse space that a profitable product could use. Identifying it early lets you act, through discounts, bundles, or returns to the supplier, before it loses more value.
Regular review of stock ageing and sell-through rates is how you spot dead stock before it accumulates.
Put it into practice
Related terms
- Cycle CountCounting a small subset of inventory on a regular rotating schedule instead of one big annual stocktake.
- COGS (Cost of Goods Sold)The direct cost of the products a business actually sold during a period.
- EOQ (Economic Order Quantity)The order size that minimises the combined cost of ordering and holding inventory.
Run it in one system
VNDLY tracks stock, orders, and suppliers together so terms like this stop being theory and start being automatic.