Most WooCommerce store owners focus on what's selling. But the real profit killer is what isn't selling — dead stock.
What is dead stock?
Dead stock is inventory that hasn't sold in 60+ days and has more than a few weeks of stock remaining. It's capital sitting in your warehouse doing nothing — and often getting worse:
- Storage costs keep accumulating
- Products may expire, go out of fashion, or become obsolete
- Cash that could fund better-selling products is locked up
- Eventually it becomes a write-off
The detection formula
In StockPulse, I flag a product as dead stock when:
current_stock > minimum_threshold
AND
units_sold_last_60_days = 0
AND
days_of_stock_remaining > 60
Simple, but surprisingly revealing when you run it across your full catalog.
What to do with dead stock
1. Bundle it — pair slow movers with bestsellers. A customer buying a $50 product might add a $10 dead-stock item for $5.
2. Run a clearance sale — even 20-30% margin recovery is better than a full write-off.
3. Return to supplier — if your agreement allows it, especially for newer inventory.
4. Liquidate wholesale — sell in bulk at cost to clear warehouse space.
5. Donate for tax benefit — in some countries, donated inventory generates a tax deduction.
Prevention with reorder discipline
The best cure is prevention. StockPulse's reorder point system means you only reorder what you're actually selling, and in quantities aligned with your real velocity — not gut feeling or "round numbers."
If your daily velocity on a product is 0.3 units/day and your lead time is 14 days, you need a reorder point of about 6 units — not the 50 you ordered "just in case."
See your dead stock in real time
The StockPulse Reports page shows all dead stock products at a glance, sorted by estimated capital tied up. It's often the first time store owners see the full picture — and the numbers are usually surprising.
Try the live demo at https://stockpulse.webkodingtheme.com or grab it on CodeCanyon: https://codecanyon.net/item/stockpulse-inventory-forecast-sales-intelligence-for-woocommerce/62458013
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