A Five-Step Solution For Fixing Retailers’ Inventory Surplus Woes — Retail Bum

Toymaker Funko recently announced plans to destroy $30 million to $36 million worth of inventory, including products selling well but stocked in surplus.

The company’s trouble with excess inventory not only cost money but also gunked up its fulfillment operations, making it harder for the bobblehead maker to fulfill orders efficiently.

Funko is far from the only retailer struggling with inventory bloat. The problem has, in fact, become so significant that 47% of retailers cite it as a major concern, and 59% worry that they will have no choice but to liquidate excess stock, Inventory Planner’s recent research shows.

Adidas, lululemon and Under Armour are just some of the many retail brands that are continuing to struggle. Meanwhile, other players, such as Gap, have resorted to deep discounting to lighten up their inventory load.

Retailers’ ongoing issue with inventory bloat has been two years in the making. Nearly two-thirds of merchants admit that pandemic-inflated online demand and fears of stockouts led them to overstock. To top that off, supply chain delays at the…