Reducing Aged Inventory
by Jennifer Heebner, senior editor -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 4/1/2005
While disposing of aged inventory can be a daunting task, Kathy Corey makes the job seem a lot easier. During the The JCK Show ~ Phoenix 2005, the vice president of merchandising for Day's Jewelers, Waterville, Maine, offered jewelers tips for managing aged inventory:
- Prevent inventory from aging; talk to vendors about return privileges.
- Order fewer items more often and consider just-in-time delivery.
- Clean it, price it right, fix it, move it around the store, or move it to another store.
- Remount or remanufacture the piece.
- Show the piece differently.
- Place signage next to the piece that tells a story about it.
- Give the piece to a new employee to sell because it's new to that person.
- Reward employees who sell it by way of a contest.
- Donate it to charity and write it off, unless it's really ugly—it's a reflection of your store.
- Sell branded products on eBay.
- Melt down gold pieces—the price of the metal is high.
- Host a Special Employee Purchase Day where employees may buy select items at reduced prices.
- Create a bargain-basement section on your Web site and load dated merchandise into that area.
- Mark it down as a last resort.
