I seem to recall being told by my only business-school prof that something like 80% or more of retail goods never sell. It seemed awfully high, and it still does today.
Does anybody have the figures on this? What percentage of retail goods actually end up being sold?
Thanks.
As a veteran of the supermarket industry, I have no idea what you are referring to. Retailers have software and statistical models that will tell them within good reason what existing products will see if they are reordered. For new products, they have high-paid and experienced buyers that have a good sense of what new products will do well when they hit the shelves. They make mistakes of course but not anything near what you are talking about.
The majority of supermarket items eventually sell unless they are stolen or damaged. Virtually all cars sell if they sit on the lot long enough and incentives give someone good reason to buy. This applies to virtually everything. Where would the stuff go and why would experienced people be so bad at producing things people will actually buy?
Pure and utter poppycock (with a few limited exceptions).
No hard numbers for you, but I used to work for Frank’s Nursery & Crafts for about seven years once upon a time (largely in shelf stocking) and I definately saw many items sit unsold for a year or more before they maybe sold at a discount or whatever. Particularly in the crafts department. The plant nursery was a little better but we did have a few tools that were discontinued and completely out of the master inventory system before someone attempted to buy one.
Of course, for every three year old wood burning kit we had, we’d rotate through ten cases of some insecticide or another so I don’t think the total number of “no sells” was anywhere near 80%. I’d be hard pressed to say it was 20% and probably less than 5% if you count the items sold off at 70% off clearances as “having sold”.
I think the statistic is more like 80% of new retail products fail. That doesn’t mean four out of five items on the shelf remain unsold, but that 80% of the time, the product itself fails to provide the necessary return on investment.
I have often heard this claim too (though I can’t vouch for the exact percentage). I think the OP is misremembering the precise wording of his prof’s quote.
Maybe 80% of products never sell at their original intended selling price. Otherwise pretty much anything (non-perishable) can be sold.
Items that don’t move or “turn” as fast as expected will be dropped from the stores re-ordering and current on-hand stock will be marked down to closeout or clearance prices. It will all move if the price is right.