When should slow-moving inventory be marked down?

When the units on hand cannot clear at the current rate before the item's selling window closes. Practically: compute weeks of supply (remaining units ÷ weekly units) and compare it against the weeks left in the season. If supply exceeds the runway for two consecutive weeks, take the break — waiting only removes weeks of demand you could have sold into.

What metrics should trigger a retail markdown?

Three: weekly sell-through against the planned pace, weeks of supply against weeks remaining, and inventory age against the class's normal life. A single soft week is noise; two consecutive weeks off pace with more supply than runway is a decision.

Is it better to mark down early or wait for clearance?

For seasonal goods, earlier and shallower usually beats later and deeper. An early break sells a modest reduction across many remaining weeks of demand while the assortment is still complete. A late clearance applies a much larger reduction to a broken assortment in a compressed window, and any units that still do not sell carry only salvage value. Waiting is the right call mainly for non-seasonal, replenishable goods where demand does not expire.

How much should I mark down slow-moving inventory?

Enough to change behaviour, not more. Start from the shallowest depth your history shows produced a genuine sell-through lift, model whether that lift clears the stock in the weeks remaining, and only go deeper if it does not. Depth chosen without a velocity assumption behind it is margin given away for free.

Should I mark down or hold inventory to next season?

Compare the cash and margin from selling now against the realistic recovery next season, net of carrying cost, storage, and the risk that the item dates further. Carryover works for classics and basics; it rarely works for fashion, trend, or dated seasonal product, where next season's version competes directly with it.

How does inventory aging fit into markdown timing?

Aging is a backstop for anything without a hard season end. Set an age threshold per class — for example, a review at 60 or 90 days on hand — so slow items surface for a decision instead of quietly consuming space and working capital.

When to mark down inventory

The markdown decision is a race between the stock you are holding and the weeks you have left to sell it. Three signals decide it: weekly sell-through against plan, weeks of supply against weeks remaining, and inventory age. Depth is the second question — timing is the one that costs you the most margin when you get it wrong.

Test a break date in the planner Sell-through and markdowns

The three triggers

Use them together. Any one on its own produces either constant reaction or constant delay.

Markdown triggers worth acting on

Pace against plan

Two consecutive weeks

Cumulative sell-through below the pace your plan expected for that season week, sustained across two weeks. One week off pace is weather, a shipment, or a holiday shift.

Weeks of supply vs runway

The hard trigger

Remaining units ÷ current weekly units, compared against the weeks left before the exit date. Supply above runway means the current price will not clear the stock — full stop.

Inventory age

For non-seasonal stock

A days-on-hand threshold per class, so items with no hard season end still surface for a decision instead of quietly aging into salvage.

Early and shallow versus late and deep

The same units and the same ending-stock target, approached three ways in a 14-week season.

Three timing choices for the same seasonal buy

Timing	Depth	What is left to sell into	Typical outcome
Break in week 4	20% then 40%	9 wks of demand left after the first break	Highest maintained margin of the three
Break in week 7	25% then 50%	6 wks left, assortment thinning	Middle margin, higher ending-stock risk
Break in week 11	60% single clearance	3 wks left, broken sizes	Lowest margin and the widest range of outcomes

Directional, not a promise — the ranking depends on the sell-through lift your category actually gets at each depth. Model all three with your own rates before committing.

Why late clearance disappoints

A deep break late in the season works on a smaller base and a broken assortment. The units remaining are the sizes and colours nobody wanted at three previous prices, the weeks left to sell them are few, and anything unsold recovers only salvage value. That combination is why a 60% clearance frequently returns less cash than a 25% break taken six weeks earlier.

The counterexample is non-seasonal, replenishable product. If demand does not expire, holding price and letting inventory run down slowly can be the better trade — the carrying cost is the only thing you are paying.

Sell now or carry to next season?

Compare three figures: cash from selling at the break you are considering, realistic recovery next season net of storage and carrying cost, and the probability the item dates further. Classics and basics survive carryover. Trend, fashion, and dated seasonal product usually do not — next season's version competes directly against it, at full price.

Keep planning

Compare markdown scenarios
Test the same units with an early shallow cadence and a late deep one, side by side.
Sell-through and markdown timing
How to calculate the velocity signals behind these triggers.
End-of-season markdown strategy
What to do when the late break is the only option left.
Retail markdown planning
Scheduling breaks in advance so timing is a plan rather than a reaction.

Answers

Markdown timing questions

Price the cost of waiting

Model the break you are considering against the same break three weeks later, and read the difference in maintained margin, ending stock, and cash recovered.

Open the markdown planner