A slow-moving product doesn't just cost you what you paid for it. It costs warehouse space, a page in your store, and capital frozen in stock that could have been buying something that turns. The longer it sits, the higher that real cost climbs.
First, define "slow" as a number
"Doesn't sell" isn't a state, it's a measurement. Pick a window that fits your trade — ninety days is a common benchmark in general retail — and treat anything unsold in that window as slow. Without an agreed number the decision stays a feeling, and you'll postpone it every month.
Then find the cause before you discount
A discount fixes exactly one of four causes:
- The price really is too high — here a discount is the right answer.
- Nobody can find it — no one sees the product at all. Cutting the price won't make it visible; the problem is where it sits in the store, not what it costs.
- Weak photo or description — customers see it and don't understand it. A discount just makes it cheap and unclear.
- Demand is over — a season passed, a trend moved on. This isn't marketing, it's clearance: go deep and go fast, rather than 5% again every month.
Step down rather than swing once
Instead of cutting 50% immediately, try 15% for two weeks. If the product moves, the problem was price and you solved it at the lowest possible cost. If it doesn't, go to 30%. The difference between the two approaches can be a whole season's profit.
And know when to stop
Some products will not sell at any price. Keeping them in the catalogue on a permanent discount hurts how the store reads and confuses customers. Pulling them from the front, clearing them in one go — or including them with other orders — is a cleaner decision than a discount that never ends.
