Learning to let go of stock that is not working in your newsagency

How long do you take to quit products that are not working in your newsagency?  A few days? A week? A month? Six months? A year?

If a product is not working every additional day it is on the shop floor or in the store room is additional cost to the business. As this cost increases the value of immediately quitting the products increases. hence the need to quit non-performing stock quickly.

In my newsagency earlier this week we decided to give away for free and or bin two small display units of products that are no longer working. It was not a lot of stock, not even filling two dump bins. Under $100 at cost.

Just having the stock on the shop floor gave off a message I did not like. Hence the decision to quit.

When we decide to exit a product we like it to be done within seven to fourteen days. We usually start at 50% off. After a week days we move to a price, often in a $1 bin and or a $5 bin as appropriate. What is left at the end of two weeks we remove by either giving it away or throwing it away.

It is important we are ruthless in quitting non-performing stock. Important to keep our businesses looking fresh, important to embrace the consequences of bad buying and important to have offers for customers that show they can get deals from us.

I accept responsibility for product I have bought which has not worked. While I’ll ale a write-down deal from a spiller if available, I will not pressure a supplier into giving one that was not part of the buy-in.

Too often newsagents expect suppliers to be responsible for newsagent buying decisions.

If we buy the stock for our stores we must responsible for dealing with it if it does not work as expected.

All products likes come to an end. This is why it is important to have an established process for handling and quitting products that are no longer working as we need them to..