Slow and dead stock: the money asleep on your shelf, and what to do about it

The third shelf

Mona has a shop for cleaning products and cosmetics in Mansoura. Last summer the rep offered a new shampoo brand: “take four cartons, the fifth is free”. She took them. Four months later two and a half cartons are still on the third shelf, under a thin layer of dust, and nobody asks for them. And it is not the only one: a hair colour the brand discontinued, a spray that came by mistake and whose return was forgotten.

Add them up and Mona has a few thousand pounds asleep on her shelves, while she looks for cash for next week's order. The trouble is that slow stock makes no noise: the item that runs out gets asked for, the one that never sells is forgotten.

How the list is made

Any item in stock (stock tracked, active) with not a single sale for 45 days enters the list. For each one you see:

• The quantity on hand and its value at cost — the money held in it.
• The last sale and how many days ago, when the history we read reaches it; if not, it says plainly “no sale in the last 45 days” and never guesses a date.
• The supplier, and what to do: at least one suggestion on every line.

An item that has just arrived is not slow yet: a new line gets the whole period to prove itself first. The 45 days are yours to change, from 7 to 365, and online each branch has its own. These are fixed, explained rules on your own sales — not AI.

What to do with each line

Where you see it

• A tile on the dashboard: how many items, their value, and the three biggest.
• Inventory → Slow and dead stock: the whole list, with day buttons, to download as Excel or CSV.
• The summary e-mail: the five biggest by value, once a week on Saturday by default (or every day, or off); the Telegram summary carries the same.
• An owner alert once a week per branch: the count, the value, the biggest item and a link to the page.
• Ask your shop: type “إيه اللي مش بيتباع؟” (what is not selling?) and the answer comes from the same list.

Half an hour every Saturday

1. Open Inventory → Slow and dead stock. The list is sorted by money: the biggest at the top.
2. Start with the top lines only: they hold the most money.
3. Act on each line yourself: lower the item's price, put it beside an item that sells, call the supplier, or take it off the next order.
4. A seasonal shop? Change the days in Settings → Selling (“Slow stock after”) and choose how often the summary e-mail carries the list.
5. Two branches or more? The same page tells you where else the item sells — see moving slow stock to the branch that sells it.

In the program on your PC

From the Silver package, the inventory screen has a Slow stock tab with the same list, day buttons and Excel / CSV, and under it the items below your margin floor; the daily summary carries the same block. The days are set in Settings → General, beside the expiry days.

What it does not do yet

Which plans include it

It is already on: nothing to switch on. Every plan side by side is on the PosMasr Cloud page, and the desktop packages on Prices.

Quick answers

Will it lower my prices by itself?
No. It suggests a discount when the price leaves room; changing the price is your decision.

I received an item last week. Will it show as slow?
No. A new arrival gets the whole period first.

Can I make it 30 days instead of 45?
Yes, anything from 7 to 365, and online each branch can have its own.

Is this artificial intelligence?
No. Four fixed rules on your own sales and stock; the same data always gives the same list.

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