Dead Stock

Dead stock builds up from over-ordering, poor forecasting, discontinued products, changed specifications or items past their usable life. It occupies storage, consumes carrying cost and represents cash that cannot be recovered at full value. Left unmanaged, it quietly erodes working capital and clutters warehouses.

Reducing dead stock starts with visibility — identifying slow-moving and obsolete items through stock-turnover and ABC analysis — then acting through markdowns, returns to suppliers, redeployment or write-off. Preventing it requires better demand forecasting, disciplined reorder policies and SKU rationalisation, so buying stays aligned with genuine need rather than accumulating unusable inventory.