You may be wondering what is the right term to refer to the inventory that does not sell and does not have any potential to be sold in the future anymore. They may be stored in a warehouse or a stockroom by this time because they have never been sold to customers. If these things ring a bell, there is a term to use for those: deadstock.
One question may be lingering in your mind: What is Deadstock? In retail and commerce, deadstock can inflict negative connotations as it could possibly refer to wasted inventory or unsold items. This is the very reason why it is important to be aware of the things that concern a deadstock—what it really means, how to avoid it, and what to do with it. Through a free website builder, we will also look further at the things that we can do to address the issues that can be inflicted by deadstock in ecommerce business.
Defining Deadstock
What is the meaning of deadstock? Deadstock, frequently used in the sneaker reselling business, refers to inventory that does not sell. For those businesses who particularly do not use inventory management software, deadstock is being stored in warehouse shelves, waiting for their total obscurity.
If we look into the original definition of deadstock, it was actually used to describe a sneaker that is no longer being manufactured, has never been worn, and still carries its tag. Specifically, these are limited edition sneakers that are no longer being made. But through a series of discussions, the term “deadstock” has been morphed by the sneakerhead community and secondary resale market into a different and more broad definition.
For some resale platforms like Stockx, deadstock sneakers that are missing extra shoelaces, unlaced and even tried on. In other places, deadstock is referred to using its abbreviation DS. In some cases, you can also notice abbreviations like NDS or ‘near deadstock’.
Answering the question, what is Deadstock, may also depend on the seasons, especially for certain items. Seasonal items can also be classified as deadstock because New Year 2021 items are only good for once; this means that they cannot be resold the next season. The company has to put up New Year products specifically designed for the year 2022.
To put it simply, deadstock is equivalent to dead inventory. Businesses that do not have any inventory control or management system are more likely to suffer from the negative impacts of deadstock and inventory issues in general.
Deadstock may be defined in a variety of ways, but one thing is certain: deadstock costs businesses money. Businesses cannot easily regain money spent, especially through subsequent profits, because of deadstock that they either manufactured themselves or purchased from another company or business. On top of that, deadstock doubles the burden as businesses have to make space for unsold items, space that can be taken up by valuable and top-selling products of the company instead.
Impacts of Deadstock on Business
Now that we know the meaning of deadstock, we must explore its impact as well. Whether you’re starting an ecommerce store or own a physical one, understanding these impacts is important.
Through the various definitions given, you have learned how deadstock can inflict burdens on businesses. This is the reason why it is important to also look further at the many ways on how you lose money because of deadstock:
• Actual Lost Money
This happens when you have invested money for merchandise, but in reality, you are not generating any profit at all.
• Lost Opportunities
Deadstock may take away a lot of open doors for you to generate a profit because the products do not even stand a chance to be showcased to potential customers.
• Holding Costs
Because you have to make space where you can store deadstock which includes a warehouse, utilities, sales taxes and insurance among others, this may cost your business as the expenses for this add up over time.
• Increased Employee Wages
The more maintenance needed to manage the deadstock inventory, the more that you need to increase staffing. Consequently, increased staffing comes with increased wages.
Dealing With the Impacts of Deadstock
What is Dead Stock, and how can we address it? While deadstock may inflict double burdens in your business, it is imperative for you to be aware of some creative ways on how you can manage or repurpose deadstock so that at the end of the day, you have purposefully turned the setbacks into effective set points.
1. Do Clearance Sale
Every customer always enjoys shopping when they get to enjoy sales and discounts. In this major sale event, you will list all of your deadstock on your website and make it available in any retail store location/s that you have. This can then lead to increased sales for your business.
On your website, you can choose to show a sale price alongside a crossed-out price (e.g., $54.99), if you’re selling deadstock sneakers for example. Your customers will only pay the sale price. The crossed-out price is only for display on your live site. You can do this by editing the product in your simple store, click the "Add Sale Price" button (see image below).
Image taken from Strikingly product
From the settings, you can enter your "Crossed-out price". You have to take note that the
crossed-out price must be greater than the sale price. If you leave it blank, it will be
hidden from your live site. You can click "x" to remove it. After entering the crossed-out
price, you can now save the changes.
2. Wholesale, Closeout, and Liquidation
Image taken from Strikingly product
If you do not want to be burdened by the hassle of selling the deadstock yourself, good thing that you can actually hand it off to someone else for discounted bulk prices. You can add a banner to your online shop and use it to promote wholesale items.
You can work on wholesale if you have so much deadstock but not because of an issue with the merchandise, but of something else. Meanwhile, closeout liquidators are those companies that will buy your product in bulk and resell it in their own shops for much lower prices. This can be considered a win-win situation for both parties.
3. Free Gift With Purchase
Image taken from Strikingly product
This is another way to deal with deadstock, but this can also be considered a form of giving back directly to your customers. Everyone loves freebies, so free gifts with purchase promo increases the value of the order. Creating coupons is also a great addition.
Whether you follow the surprise gift route for these customers or use a common ordinary tactic, free gift with purchase promo surely ups your game since it is a great way to add incentive to buy, increasing your conversion rates.
4. Product Bundles
Image taken from Strikingly product
Since we are talking about freebies that will surely catch the interest of potential customers, product bundles can also be maximized to increase the perceived value of the order. In fact, you can also design these bundles using a catchy theme that makes them worthy for a single price.
If you want to promote product bundles, you can use pop-ups on your website. In essence, product bundles have a lesser price than the original total price of all the products combined so this would probably urge the customers to pick such a bundle where they can save more than purchasing the items separately.
5. Explore Partnerships
Image taken from Strikingly product
Many businesses have partnered up to step up their ecommerce campaigns, and it is high time for you to cope with these advanced ways. If you are already in an existing collaboration with retail or ecommerce collaborators, you may want to devise ways on how you can deal with your deadstock.
This is also a chance to be creative in presenting the partnership to the target customers. One of the best ways to target a specific audience is to use newsletters. You can use Strikingly’s newsletter option to get started. Many businesses have used this approach in their own inventory management practices, and if this works for them, then it will surely be something worth considering for your businesses.
Here are some of our top picks on how you deal with deadstock creatively and efficiently. Now that we’ve answered the question, what is dead stock, you can try various things to deal with it. You may also want to consider donating to charity in exchange for a tax write-off, selling deadstock sneakers or apparel to consignment stores, or returning deadstock to your suppliers.
You can also practice intervention to avoid deadstock: upgrading your inventory management, improving internal communications, and offering quality products.
Now that you have the right amount of knowledge about what is dead stock and how it affects your business, it is high time that you also upgrade your website by incorporating these suggestions and implications. You can head over to Strikingly and create your free account today!
