Retail

Your cash is sitting on the shelves

Slow inventory is money you already spent, sitting where you cannot use it. Turns matter more than margin percentage in almost every small retail business.

Where it goes

Dead stock: Product bought two seasons ago still occupying shelf space, working capital, and your attention.
Discount habit: Markdowns used to move inventory that was mispriced or over-ordered at the point of purchase.
Category blindness: Strong overall margin hiding two or three categories that lose money on every unit sold.

Reference ranges

Industry data

Metric	Healthy	Most sit at
Gross margin	45–50%	38–43%▼
Inventory turns	4–6×	2–3×▼
Occupancy cost	8–12%	10–14%
Net margin	5–8%	2–4%▼

Where your business sits against these is what the audit measures.

The one thing to do next

Fifteen minutes on your numbers.

Book the call and you'll get six questions to answer first, so the time goes to your numbers instead of background.

Book a Profit Audit