Hello! 🙂
Deadstock, once it starts piling up, often leads to the thought of “It will sell eventually…” which can take up space, tie up cash, and ultimately lead to losses.

So today, instead of asking, “How should we handle this?” we’ll take a step further,
and I’ll introduce a method to turn on the warning lights before it becomes dead stock, known as the Inventory Aging Report.

What is the Inventory Aging Report?

In simple terms, it’s a way of categorizing inventory based on “how long it has been in the warehouse/store.”

For example, it looks like this:

• 0-30 days inventory: “New Arrival/Rotation Period”

• 31-60 days inventory: “Caution Period”

• 61-90 days inventory: “Danger Period”

• 90 days+ inventory: “Candidate for Obsolete Stock”

By categorizing inventory by period (aging),
you can see what “is not selling” without having to guess, and the inventory that needs attention becomes visible.

Why do 30/60/90 days work well in practice?

30/60/90 days is a “basic framework” that works well in most industries.

• 30 days: A good measure to see if products had enough opportunities to be exposed to customers

• 60 days: A good measure to determine whether it is truly moving slowly rather than just ‘pausing’

• 90 days: From this point onwards, storage costs/opportunity costs increase, making it a decisive period

Of course, the standards can vary by industry.
(For example, fashion/electronics may have shorter standards, while materials/components can be longer)

Nevertheless, starting with 30/60/90 is the easiest and makes sharing within the team more convenient.

Action Plan by Interval: What should we do when the “warning lights” turn on?

This is the key.
The aging report is not just a “report to look at,” but it becomes truly powerful when actions are defined for each interval.

1) 0-30 days: Rotation Period (Still Normal, but ‘Exposure’ Check)

This interval is usually not “obsolete” but rather a stage to see whether it has received enough sales opportunities.

• Is the display location/top exposure okay?

• Are there any set combinations or related product recommendations?

• Can employees explain the product features in one line?

If you do well from here, the inventory moving into the 60-day period will decrease significantly.

2) 31-60 days: Caution Period (Finding Causes + Light Remedies)

From this point on, you need to quickly identify why it is not selling, rather than just saying “it’s not selling.”

Recommended actions:

• Is the product name/option name/display label ambiguous? (Customers often don’t understand)

• Are there too many similar products causing choice dispersion?

• Is bundling/composing more effective than selling single items?

• Is “value” not being communicated instead of “price”? (If proposing usage scenarios is insufficient)

The point is to focus on making light improvements first rather than “big discounts.”
If resolved in this interval, rotation can happen without greatly cutting margins.

3) 61-90 days: Danger Period (Strategic Transition: Composition/Price/Channel)

From here, it’s not just a matter of “needing to tend to it”; it’s a period that requires strategy.

Recommended actions:

• Restructure the customer spending through bundled sales (e.g., best seller + slow mover combinations)

• Lower perceived prices using **“set benefits”** instead of single item discounts

• If offline is slow, separate into online/special channels (channel dispersion)

• If it’s a seasonal/trendy product, plan to quickly dispose of it by capturing the “timing”

The important thing is that from this interval on, if left “as is,” the probability of moving into the 90 days+ category is very high.

4) 90 days+: Candidate for Obsolete Stock (Decisive Period)

Once it exceeds 90 days, most become inventory that continues to tie up space and money.

At this time, “disposal” is important, but at the same time, the causes must be linked to prevention of recurrence.

Recommended actions:

• Final confirmation of return/exchange possibilities

• Compare “less harmful choices” such as donation/disposal/gift conversion

• Document standards to avoid repeating the same mistakes in the next ordering/introduction process

Deadstock will continue to occur if just left “organized,”
and changing the standards will significantly reduce occurrences from the next season.

How to make the Aging Report a “10 Minutes Routine Every Week”

This is what you can do.

• Once a week (e.g., Monday morning), review inventory by aging intervals

• List only the 60-day+ interval

• Add “one action for this week” to each product
  (one of display changes/set compositions/price policies/channel separations)

Rather than perfect solutions, consistently repeating small actions is the most realistic way to reduce deadstock.

Conclusion

Deadstock is ultimately determined by whether
there is a system in place to notice before it becomes deadstock rather than “processing ability”.

Just by breaking inventory down into 30/60/90 days,
it will become much clearer for business owners what “needs to be addressed this week”.

We will continue to enhance this data-driven inventory check routine to make it easier for you to perform even under tight deadlines 🙂