US retailers are holding $732 billion in unsold inventory
What’s in your warehouse?
You know what causes it
| Changes in demand | Fear of stockouts/ no variety | Seasonal fluctuations |
|---|---|---|
| Shifts in consumer tastes or income are hard to predict. In fact, 42% of businesses fail due to a lack of market demand for products they’re selling. | Companies place larger orders than necessary as a “just-in-case” strategy or to offer more variety. This leads to excess stock in the long run. | In July of 2022, retailers were storing $548.8 billion in extra inventory from the previous holiday season—only to sell it at a discount later on. |
And how to unload it
| Discounts and promotions | Destroying inventory | Saving stock to sell later |
|---|---|---|
| It’s estimated that retailers lose $300 billion globally from inefficient markdown processes. Not surprising since 40% of apparel items are currently being sold at a discount. | Retailers and consumers throw out around $500 billion in garments each year, with many industry leaders disposing of or burning unsold stock. | Not the best idea since inventory generally depreciates in value over time. Plus the warehousing costs—companies globally are shelling out almost $3.3 billion every year. |
The unfortunate truth
Major retailers have accepted overstock losses as par for the course
Company money is always tied up in product that isn’t selling
Anywhere from 20–30% of inventory eventually goes unsold
On-demand opens doors
Eliminate the need to stockpile product
Improve inventory management
No need to keep inventory on hand—save money on storage costs and minimize the risk that products go unsold.
Perfect forecasting
Offering a wide variety of products without inventory will help you gauge customer preferences more accurately, and better forecast demand.
Increase flexibility
Quickly respond to changes in customer demand and avoid producing too much product that may not sell.
Diversify and customize
More design options for customers increases the chances of selling products without the risk of being left with excess stock.
Imagine: you’re sourcing products from abroad, everything’s working out great, and they’re 3 times cheaper than working with an on-demand supplier.
So why even bother?
How are you doing the sourcing?
Ordering 10K+ units of a specific product and getting it shipped to you.
How many designs do you order?
A total of . . . 2.
But here’s the thing:
- How do you know those designs will sell?
- What if you had multiple product designs to offer?
- Why would you restrict your sales potential?
We don’t want to risk the inventory.
Launch a new design, it doesn’t sell, and you’re stuck with overstock.
It doesn’t have to be this way.
With print-on-demand, an order is only fulfilled when it gets placed.
Don’t limit how many designs you can launch. Don’t erode your margins trying to unload excess stock—sell at full retail price.