Dead Stock & Inventory Aging

Find the stock that has stopped selling, measure how old it is, and turn it back into cash.

4 lessons 35 min 5-question assessment 75% to pass

What you’ll learn

Define dead stock and why it hurts

Read an inventory aging report

Choose tactics to clear old stock

Prevent dead stock from building again

Lesson 1 of 4 Reading 8 min

What dead stock is

Dead stock is inventory that has not sold in a long time and is unlikely to sell at full price soon. It is the quiet opposite of a fast mover — cash that went in and never came back out.

It hurts because it ties up money, occupies shelf and warehouse space, and often loses value as it sits. Unlike fresh stock, every extra month makes dead stock worth less, not more.

A SKU you bought 18 months ago — 300 units at KES 400 each, KES 120,000 — that has sold nothing in 6 months is dead stock. That KES 120,000 could be funding bestsellers; instead it occupies an aisle and quietly ages toward a write-off.

Key takeaways

Dead stock is inventory that has not sold for a long time.
It ties up cash and space and loses value over time.
Every month of sitting makes it worth less, not more.
Example: 300 units at KES 400 unsold 6 months = KES 120,000 trapped.

Lesson 2 of 4 Practice 9 min

Reading an aging report

An inventory aging report buckets stock by how long it has sat — for instance 0–30, 31–90, 91–180, and 180+ days since last sale. The older the bucket, the closer to dead.

Reading it matters because it turns a vague worry into a ranked list. Instead of "we have some old stock", you see exactly which SKUs, how much value, and how stale.

If your 180+ day bucket holds KES 450,000 across 30 SKUs, you have a precise hit list: the oldest, highest-value items at the top get cleared first. The report also shows items creeping from the 91–180 bucket toward dead, so you can act before they fully stall.

Key takeaways

Aging reports bucket stock by days since last sale.
Older buckets are closer to dead stock.
The report ranks exactly which SKUs and how much value.
Example: a KES 450,000 180+ day bucket is your clearance hit list.

Lesson 3 of 4 Reading 9 min

Clearing old stock

Once you have the list, clear it with the cheapest workable tactic: discount it, bundle it with a fast mover, return it to the supplier if allowed, or write it off as a last resort.

Clearing matters because partial recovery beats total loss — KES 200 back on an item is better than KES 0 and an occupied shelf. Acting now also stops the aging clock from eating more value.

For 300 dead units bought at KES 400, a 40% clearance at KES 240 recovers KES 72,000 and frees the aisle, versus holding for another year and writing them off for nothing. Bundling slow stock with a bestseller ("buy this, get that at half price") moves both without a pure markdown.

Key takeaways

Clear with the cheapest workable tactic first.
Discount, bundle, return to supplier, or write off last.
Partial recovery beats total loss and frees space.
Example: a 40% clearance recovers KES 72,000 versus a zero write-off.

Lesson 4 of 4 Reading 9 min

Preventing it returning

Clearing dead stock once is wasted if it rebuilds. Prevention means buying to demand, watching the aging report monthly, and being honest about which lines simply do not sell.

It matters because dead stock is usually a buying mistake repeated — over-ordering a slow line, or stocking what you wish would sell rather than what does. Fix the buying and the dead stock stops appearing.

If a line keeps landing in your 180+ bucket every cycle, the lesson is to order it in 50s, not 300s, or drop it entirely. A monthly aging review plus tighter reorder points on slow movers means the next KES 120,000 never gets stuck in the first place.

Key takeaways

Clearing is wasted if dead stock rebuilds.
Buy to demand and review aging monthly.
Dead stock is usually a repeated buying mistake.
Example: order a stalling line in 50s, not 300s, or drop it.

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Dead Stock & Inventory Aging

What you’ll learn

Course content

What dead stock is

Reading an aging report

Clearing old stock

Preventing it returning

Finished the material?

More in this path

Inventory Foundations

Warehouse & Locations

Units of Measure & Conversions

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