Three kinds of stock, and why each has to move differently.

The goal is the fewest hands touching a product, and the shortest distance between where it starts and the customer.

A product you sell all year, a product you bring in for one promotion and a product that lasts a single season are three different jobs. Run all three the same way and you get the two problems every owner knows: too much of what isn't selling, and not enough of what is.

In 2019 I reviewed the supply chain at Briscoe Group. The question on the table was whether we needed a bigger distribution centre. What the review found was that the building was not the limit. Our own processes were: how stock was put away, picked and sent out to stores.

So before deciding whether to move, we sorted every product into one of three streams and worked out how each should flow. This is how I think about them.

All yearSmall and steady, reordered on what sold

One eventBought once, landed by the date

One seasonA big opening delivery, top-ups, then the exit

1. Lines you sell all year

These are your staples. The job is to be in stock without holding more than you need.

• Let sales pull the stock. Reorder from what sold last week, not from a calendar or a hunch.
• Keep the supplier commitment open. Agree a price and call the stock off as you need it.
• Watch two numbers: how often you run out, and how many weeks of cover you hold.

2. Lines you buy once, for an event

A promotion, a one-off deal, a gift line for Christmas. You buy it once and there is a date it has to land by.

• Plan backwards from the date. The trading calendar sets the deadline; every step before it gets its own.
• Decide where it goes before it arrives. Send it out to the stores or the shelf in the quantities each can sell.
• Move it straight through. Stock that goes into storage on its way to a promotion is being handled twice.

3. Lines that last a season

Fashion and seasonal ranges have a short life. They need both approaches, in order.

• Push first. Send enough at the start to make the display.
• Then pull. Top up what is selling, and stop sending what is not.
• Plan the exit before the season opens. Know when the markdown starts and how deep it goes.
• Keep room to move. A commitment you can raise or cut mid-season is worth more than a slightly better price.

Six questions to ask of your own stock

• Which lines are reordered on a calendar that should be reordered on sales?
• What did you last buy in bulk for the price, and how long did it sit?
• How many times is a carton handled between the supplier and the shelf?
• How much stock moved between stores last season, and why was it in the wrong one?
• Which promotion's stock arrived after the promotion started?
• For seasonal lines, was the markdown planned before the season or after it?

The stock and planning page and the supply chain page have more questions like these.

What it looks like when it is fixed

For a retailer that did not have enough stock in the right place, I built a planning system that tells them how much to buy and where to place it. They get product to market faster, and their stock problems were resolved.

The free 45-minute chat ends with a one-page readback of where I think the money is most likely being lost in your business. Ask for it here.

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