Dead and Slow-Moving Stock: How to Find It, Clear It and Avoid It

Every distributor has some stock that does not move. A product that sold well last year but no longer does, a new line that did not catch on, a pack size that nobody asked for, a batch that arrived with a short shelf life. Slow stock hurts quietly: it ties up cash, takes shelf and warehouse space, and sometimes ends as a write-off. The goal is not to have none, but to see it early enough to choose what to do.

Define it so you can find it

Three categories help:

Category	Description
Slow-moving	Sells, but much slower than its usual pace
Non-moving	No sales for a defined period
At risk	Close to expiry or with damaged packaging

Choose thresholds from your own data: compare days since last sale with each product's normal reorder cycle. A product that sells monthly is not slow after two weeks; a daily seller is.

The monthly review

1. List products with stock on hand by batch.
2. Note days since the last sale and the stock quantity relative to normal monthly sales.
3. Mark expiry dates and age of each batch.
4. Sort by value tied up.
5. Decide an action for each item.
6. Assign an owner and a date.

Keep a short list of the top items to act on, not a huge report no one reads.

Clearance options

• Redirect: send to outlets or channels where the product sells faster.
• Bundle: pair slow products with fast ones in a scheme.
• Discount: reduce price for a defined period, carefully, so it does not reset customer expectations.
• Return to supplier: if terms allow.
• Donate or write off: when the product can no longer be sold; record it properly.

Act before the last weeks of shelf life, when options narrow.

Understand the cause

Cause	Response
Over-purchasing	Tighten order rules
Wrong pack size	Adjust range
Weak push in the field	Brief the team, add a scheme
Wrong channel	Redirect
Quality or price issue	Escalate to product owners

Prevention

• Use history before reordering: see forecasting demand from order history.
• Introduce new products in small lots.
• Follow oldest-batch-first picking.
• Watch dealer stock and returns: see reconciling dealer stock with secondary sales.
• Review inventory turnover: see inventory turnover for distributors.

How to run it in gamitrack

1. Track batches and expiry for each product so stock by batch and age is visible.
2. Use the low-stock and expiry views to see what is running out and what is close to expiry.
3. Review stock movements. The append-only movement log shows when stock came in, went out or was returned.
4. Redirect with schemes. Run schemes on fulfilled secondary sales with tiered rewards to push specific products.
5. Price lists. Create a clearance price list or overrides for limited periods and apply it to target outlets.
6. Process returns. Company returns can be approved into a branch with a credit note; dealers accept or reject shop returns.
7. Count dealer stock. Monthly counts reveal unsold stock at the dealer.
8. Broadcast to the team about the products to push this month.

Food, dairy, bakery and pharma lines are especially sensitive to shelf life; see bakery and confectionery, dairy and pharma distribution.

A hypothetical example

Imagine Example Bakery (an invented name) discovering during its monthly review that one packaged item has barely sold in two months while stock is nearing expiry. The manager checks which outlets bought it previously, asks officers to promote it in two beats, bundles it with a faster item and offers a modest scheme. A portion still remains, so the manager arranges to return what the supplier will accept and records the rest as a write-off. The next purchase order for that item is reduced, and the new rule is added: slow items are ordered only in small lots.

Monthly slow-stock checklist

• Stock by batch and expiry reviewed.
• Top items by value tied up listed.
• Action and owner assigned to each.
• Write-offs recorded with reasons.
• Purchasing rules updated.

Common mistakes

• Waiting until expiry to act.
• Discounting without a plan.
• Ignoring dealer stock.
• Reordering based on last year's sales alone.
• Not recording write-offs.

Setting rules so slow stock is caught automatically

A review is better than nothing, but rules catch problems sooner. Consider writing these into your process:

Rule	Example action
New products start in small lots	Expand only after the first reorders
A product with no sales for a defined period is flagged	Review in the next weekly meeting
Stock within a defined window of expiry goes to the front	Push in the next two beats
A product's order quantity is capped if days of stock is high	Purchasing approves exceptions
Dealer stock above expected triggers a smaller fill	Reconcile before the next order

Who owns the decision

Slow stock is often nobody's problem, so it grows. Name a single owner, usually the person who controls purchasing, and review progress at the weekly meeting. Celebrate cleared stock as much as new sales: both free cash. If a product repeatedly lands on the list, consider dropping it from your range and telling your suppliers why.

Summary in one line

Slow stock is cheapest to fix early. Look at batch age and days of stock every month, choose a clearance route while options remain, and tighten purchasing so that the same products do not return to the list next quarter. Share the list with sales so they know what to push.

Next step

Run a slow-stock review this month. Compare your list with what your team believes is slow, and see where they differ. Plans are on the pricing page.