📦 Slow-Moving SKUs

Slow-Moving SKUs#

Products that sell slowly and risk tying up inventory.

Important

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What it is#

Slow-moving SKUs are products with low sales velocity — they turn over slowly, sitting in the warehouse and tying up capital and space. Items that barely move at all become dead stock. They are the sluggish tail of the sales distribution, the opposite of fast-moving bestsellers.

Why they cost#

Unsold inventory accrues holding costs and risks obsolescence and write-offs — insufficient demand for a SKU can inflate its annual cost substantially. Every dollar in a slow-mover is a dollar not in a product that sells.

What to do#

Identify them early with SKU-level velocity analytics, before they go obsolete, then act — discount, bundle a slow-mover with a fast one, liquidate, or discontinue — and reduce or delay purchase orders for them. In warehouse layout, they move to less-accessible zones (ABC classification).

Theme: Operations & Supply Chain · All terminology

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Mind map — connected ideas

SKU · Real-Time Inventory Tracking · Long-Tail Items · Demand Forecasting · Stockout Rate · Reorder Point (ROP) Optimization

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More in Operations & Supply Chain

Backorder Rate · Crew Overtime · Demand Forecasting · Fill Rate · Long Lead Times · Long-Tail Items · Lost Sales Value · Overstock % · Real-Time Inventory Tracking · Reorder Point (ROP) Optimization · Safety Stock · SKU · Stockout Rate · Stockouts