Stop carrying
Which lines have not earned their shelf, and what happens to the stock we are already holding?
Lines proposed for dropping
5
out of 12 watched and about 9,400 carried
Reviewed twice a year. Five is a normal number; twenty would mean the buying is wrong, not the list.
Money standing still
$1,184
250 units, none of which turned more than once this year
Not a loss. It is cash that is already spent and cannot be spent again.
Sold in the last twelve months
33 units
across all five lines together — one line in the shop sells that many in a fortnight
When a line comes off the shelf
- 1It has turned less than once in twelve months.
- 2Something already on the shelf does the same job, or the customers who want it can be counted.
- 3Two seasons have passed, if it is seasonal. One bad season is weather.
- 4Nothing is dropped in the eight weeks before its season. That is a markdown, not a decision.
A line failing all four still gets a written reason, because in eight months somebody will ask why we stopped stocking it and “the system said so” is not an answer.
What happens to what is already here
Nothing is written off and nothing is binned. Each line is marked down in two steps, eight weeks apart, and whatever is left after that goes to the trade counter at cost. The brass knobs will take about a year to clear at that rate, which is fine — the point of dropping the line was never to recover the money, it was to stop re-ordering into a bin that is already full.
Why this is not a margin report
Every one of these lines has a perfectly good margin. Margin is what you make when something sells, and none of these sell. The figure that matters is turns, and after turns it is shelf feet — four of the five below are holding facings at eye height in an aisle where the fasteners are three shelves down at ankle level.
The five, with the reason each one is here
Solid brass cabinet knob, 1¼ in.
HDW-4419
- Held
- 44 units
- Sold, 12 mo
- 6
- Turns
- 0.14 a year
- Tied up
- $312
Two sold since March. The satin nickel in the next bin does the same job and turns eleven times a year.
Manual hand drill
TLS-8802
- Held
- 7 units
- Sold, 12 mo
- 1
- Turns
- 0.14 a year
- Tied up
- $231
One sold, to a school, in two years. It is a lovely object and it is a museum piece.
Galvanised nipple, ⅜ in.
PLB-7745
- Held
- 118 units
- Sold, 12 mo
- 9
- Turns
- 0.08 a year
- Tied up
- $189
Nine in a year across four sizes we stock in eleven. Keep three sizes, drop eight.
Cedar birdhouse kit
GRD-9931
- Held
- 19 units
- Sold, 12 mo
- 3
- Turns
- 0.16 a year
- Tied up
- $285
Seasonal buy that did not sell in its season, twice. It will not sell in its third.
Incandescent rough-service lamp, 60 W
ELE-6650
- Held
- 62 units
- Sold, 12 mo
- 14
- Turns
- 0.23 a year
- Tied up
- $167
Genuinely still wanted by four customers. Order to those four and stop stocking it.