How to give a second life to your accumulated stock

Retailers have learned from the disruption that affected their supply chains during the pandemic and now have several options to reduce inventory levels and avoid reliving uncomfortable situations of overcrowded warehouses. The options range from selling to giving a second life to their stock or creating new consumer trends and lifestyles.

The key is to facilitate the easy movement of inventory between online and offline orders. A new scenario where consumers can buy online and pick up in-store allows retailers to more easily sell inventory they have accumulated without necessarily resorting to margin-harming discounts.

This year, it is more important than ever to listen to the consumer and give them the facilities they need so that they can customize their shopping journey and adapt it to their routine.

Following the eCommerce boom experienced during the pandemic, for many retailers online sales now make up a significant portion of their total sales and continue to grow quarter after quarter.

Physical stores need to look for agility in their stock flow, as well as being a second warehouse for the online channel by offering in-store pickup of purchases coming from other channels.

But there is also a new opportunity for products that have been sitting in stores.

There is a growing trend in sustainable fashion that is an excellent opportunity to give those garments a new life by using excess inventory to make new products, something that can be even more cost-effective than using new materials.
An example of this is the campaign launched by Uniqlo: Recycle, Reuse, Reduce where they gave an example of how garments collected from consumers or from stock are recycled into new garments.

In addition to creating new garments, those that have a new life are donated to charities or NGOs that work with people at risk of social exclusion, refugees and those who have lost their jobs during the recession.

Warehouses full of accumulated stock are not good for anyone, and more and more brands and stores are showing solidarity with those who need it most by giving these “forgotten” garments a second chance.

Another excellent example was the Bassols brand, which provided beds and bathing clothes to the Red Cross Plan Responde during the Covid-19 crisis and to other entities such as medicalized hotels.

All these initiatives combined with the last quarter of the year, known as the quarter of the offers can lighten the weight of inventory that perhaps has not had the expected rotation or that has been purchased to alleviate the supply crisis that has starred this 2022.

In the coming months, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the Christmas campaign and the January sales are also very good opportunities to lighten the load.