Dead stock

Stock that hasn't sold for a long time and probably won't — the colour nobody wanted, the model that was replaced, the seasonal line that missed its season — takes up shelf space, ties up cash and tends to get forgotten. Stock like this is called dead stock, or obsolete stock when it can no longer be sold at all.

How long is 'a long time' depends on what you sell: six months for fashion, perhaps two years for spare parts. Pick a cut-off for your business and list everything beyond it every quarter. A report of the last sold date per SKU is enough to start.

Once you've found it, you can discount it, bundle it with something that sells, return it to the supplier if they allow it, donate it or write it off. Which is cheapest differs per item, but all of them beat leaving it on the shelf another year. Ask your accountant how write-offs are treated.