Here's your reality:
Bare shelves and empty stockrooms lose sales. Overloaded shelves and full stockrooms waste money. It's tough to find the right balance. Customer preferences are tough to decipher and they're in constant flux. No matter how much you guard against it, your product selection will sometimes be influenced by unguarded zeal. Surprises in the market will undermine your efforts. Plan realistically, select thoughtfully, test carefully, buy cautiously - and you will still make mistakes.

Deal with that reality. Have a tightly controlled product line. Keep merchandise cost modest relative to your sales volume. Make your primary inventory investment in products that have all three of the following characteristics. These are Staple Goods - the merchandise that won't hurt you:

• specific appeal to the store's market,
• reliable rate of sale,
• common or essential user applications.

No fashion stuff here, nor fads, nor novelties, nor items with appeal limited by price, seasonality or narrow application. Staple Goods are the core of your business - the basic stuff that sells day in and day out. Product categories beyond the staple goods core merit minimal investment.

Staple Goods is the basic stuff that sells day in and day out. No fashion stuff here, nor fads, nor novelties, nor items with appeal limited by price, seasonality or narrow application. This is the merchandise that won't hurt you.

No matter how hard you try, for one reason or another some part of your inventory will always let you down. It will sell slowly or disappoint customers or otherwise fail to enhance your operation. Reduce the risk with a program of frequent reorders. Don't let yourself get too deep in any product. Reorder conservatively - you can always get more.

Recycling your investment is the primary key to a successful operation. If a product is selling - it is helping you. So reorder enough to keep up with sales.

If it is not selling - it's hurting you, so get rid of it to stop the pain. Mark it down. NOW! Get your money back. Buy another product you think will sell. And track that new one closely. Pretty soon its own record will tell you to reorder or mark that one down also. And so it goes with every dollar you invest in inventory.

Special Note - You can have it both ways - but only in an Extranet Company Store & Supply Depot. Later we'll explain how you can use Double Tier Inventory to offer your organization hundreds of different logo products - including lots of fancy, high risk stuff - without carrying an inventory investment. There is enormous leverage in this aspect of Extranet Store management. Unfortunately, it doesn't apply to a Retail Company Store.