Managing excess inventory is a nightmare!
Unsold stock occupies a lot of storage space; but more than that, it occupies your mind with worries.
Having surplus stock means-
- Your invested capital hasn’t given you the expected returns,
- Your future investment gets affected,
- You’ll probably have to rent out extra warehouse space to accommodate new inventory,
- You worry about your old stock becoming obsolete…. the list is endless!
Apart from your profits, anything in excess is always harmful. And the overabundance of stock directly affects your business.
As trends become outdated, you’ll find customers turning away from your old stock, and getting rid of it will become a Herculean task.
Don’t Let Unsold Inventory Eat Away Your Profits!
If unsold inventory is affecting your Woo store’s performance, then sound the alarm bells, it’s time for you to take some action!
Running a discount sale to clear stock is an age-old technique. But if this idea doesn’t work, you might end up eating into your profits.
What’s the way out then?
Well, based on several studies, online polls and surveys we’ve conducted, we’ve narrowed down to these top 5 innovative tactics to help you attract customers and mobilize your slow-moving inventory.
1. Reinvent Your Store
“The problem is not the problem; the problem is our beliefs around the problem”
When a product is not selling, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the product is faulty or outdated.
It could be an indication that people find your store outdated. What you might need to do, is change your marketing style.
Here’s an analogy. The same set of furniture arranged differently would give a totally new look to your living room, wouldn’t it? Similarly, you could give your WooCommerce store a fresher, newer look!
Since the theme is the face of your WooCommerce store, you can try
- customizing the look of the theme – add a color scheme to improve conversions
- reorganizing or reshuffling inventory on your shop page – add “Best Selling” items, or “Items on Sale” sections
- adding better product images – add high-quality images, images of the product from different angles, and so on.
This method can refresh the look of your store and transforms a slow-moving product to a fast-seller.
2. Offer Strategic Discounts
Discount is a traditional way of speeding up sales by sacrificing part of your profits.
However, if applied tactfully, it can give you your expected returns!
- Announce limited-time offers – a countdown timer is a proven strategy! It creates an urgency in the mind of buyers, to make a purchase before time runs out
- Giving higher discounts on higher quantity purchases – start by offering a minimum discount on a purchase of individual items and a higher discount on a purchase of multiple items. For example, on an apparel store that would be 10% off on 1 shirt and 15% on 2.
Exercise Caution! Running offers too frequently and giving away unrealistic discounts can have an adverse effect on a customer’s thinking. They may start doubting the product quality. And they won’t end up availing any discounts at all!
So, plan discount offers occasionally, and inform your customers of the same.
3. Bundle your Products
The concept of product bundling is simple – combine several products and sell it as a whole at a discounted price.
It’s a win-win deal. Average product cost reduces, and the customers see a higher value in making the purchase. As for you, you get a slight push to clear your stock!
However, product bundling makes sense only if you are able to pair the product. It totally depends on what you’re selling.
Let’s talk about a few cases to elaborate on the concept of bundling.
Bundle Identical Product:
When it comes to bundling, one of the best strategies is to target products that could be purchased in bulk!
Selling a pack of 3 chopping boards at a discounted price doesn’t make sense, right? Not many customers would buy 3 chopping boards at once. However, if you sell a set of 5 storage containers at a discounted price, you have a higher chance of making a sale.
Bundle Complementary Products:
By checking surplus stock to identify products that complement each other, you can make deals to sell such products together as a bundle to boost sales.
For example, if you have Hard Disk drives that aren’t selling fast enough, then add a Hard Disk drive casing to it and sell it as a bundle for a reduced price.
Bundle Not-so-popular Products:
You can bundle your slow-moving items with fast-moving ones. Make use of popular products to clear out the stock that is low in demand.
For example, If nail-color-removers aren’t selling but nail-colors are in high demand, then make the most of it. Create a hamper containing several shades of nail-colors and add a nail-color-remover to it.
4. Offer Customizable Product Bundles
Throw the ball in the customer’s court. 
Give your customers the chance to buy assorted products of their choice. It will make your customers feel special by allowing them to create exclusive product bundles.
Say for example you run a flower shop. You can allow customers to make a custom bouquet by picking flowers of their choice.
By giving customers the power to choose, you increase the chances of a sale.
With customized bundles, you can also go for a “mix-n-match” strategy.
Customers don’t like to buy products just because there’s a concession. They are motivated to make a purchase when they have ‘options’. You can allow them to buy items of their interest even if the items have no relation. Consider it as ‘storewide bundling’, available at a discount.
For example, a shopper on an apparel store would have the option to purchase 5 products out of all available for a discount on the total!
Customizable product bundles work on any kind of store because bundling possibilities are endless.
5. Offer Freebies and Incentives
Freebies put a smile on any customer’s face.
You can use unpopular, low-cost items as giveaways when a customer makes a purchase for a certain amount.
It will clear slow-moving stock and encourage customers to increase their order-size to get a free product.
“Spend $80 or more and get a cool laundry bag for FREE!!” Sounds pretty exciting, doesn’t it?!
Similarly, you can add loyalty points to a customer’s account on purchasing products. You can let customers redeem those points only for a particular product category – the one that’s not so popular, of course!
Summing up
Inventory that does not get sold or is slow-selling is a burden; however, it’s not an impossible problem to solve.
With the tactics we’ve discussed, you should be sorted.
But before you get down to implementing these strategies- here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Analyze your inventory and sales data to notice any patterns – for example, certain days of the week might be slow
- Keep stock count updated to avoid the surplus stock
- Identify your best-selling and worst selling products
Being flexible and using these strategies is your recipe for success.
