Define slow relative to the job
A rarely used spare may be deliberately retained because it supports important equipment. A once-popular retail variant may be lingering because demand changed. The same number of days without movement can mean different things.
Create a review list with product, location, on-hand quantity, recent usage, last movement, open commitments and open purchase orders. Add the observation period to every rate or duration. A number such as “180 days of stock” is hard to interpret if nobody knows whether it was based on a normal quarter, a period of closure or an unusual promotion. Do not set a universal dead-stock threshold without considering the product's role.
Check the records behind the rate
Confirm that movement is recorded under the correct SKU and unit. A duplicate product record can make one version look inactive while orders use another. Stock in the wrong location may also appear unwanted because the team that needs it cannot see it.
InFlow lists an Estimated Inventory Duration report based on recent selling or usage, and its report options allow the averaging period to be changed. This makes the period a decision input, not a cosmetic filter. Zero recent movement does not support a useful finite days-of-cover estimate. Label that case separately and investigate rather than displaying an enormous number as if it were a precise forecast.
Work through the choices
Imagine a fictional business holding 90 green storage bins. Only six moved during the last 90 days, but another branch has unfilled requests for the same SKU. A transfer may solve a location imbalance before any new purchase is considered. If the requests are for a different size, combining them would create a false solution.
For each item, choose an explicit next action: retain with a reason, relocate after checking demand, investigate a record error, stop routine replenishment pending review, or seek an approved disposition. An available supplier return or alternative use must be verified rather than assumed. This guide concerns stock decisions, not write-downs, tax treatment or promised recovery value.
Stop the problem from replenishing itself
Review open orders and reorder settings after deciding an item's future. Otherwise a team can clear a shelf and immediately replace the same unwanted stock. Keep any essential service or customer commitment visible before reducing a buffer or cancelling a replenishment request.
Assign a review date and owner instead of leaving a permanent “slow mover” label. For a new item, the next decision may be to gather more usage evidence; for an obsolete variant, it may be to prevent further ordering. A shared review sheet can work for a modest catalogue. Software reports help find candidates at scale, but they do not explain why the stock exists. Start with the five items taking the most inconvenient space and write one evidenced action for each.
Sources used for this page
These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.
- inFlow: report options — Merchant documentation · inflowinventory.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-24
- inFlow: included reports — Merchant documentation · inflowinventory.com · Merchant-controlled · checked 2026-09-24