Most merchants obsess over Q4 volume. Then run out of stock anyway. THE IRONY: They spend all year preparing for peak season. Negotiating rates. Building forecasts. Planning inventory. Then December hits and they're watching competitors steal their sales. Out-of-stock percentage is the metric nobody talks about. But it's killing more revenue than any fee increase. THE BRUTAL MATH: - 1 week stockout = Lost BSR ranking - Lost ranking = 3x higher ad spend to recover - Higher ad spend = Lower margins - Lower margins = Less inventory budget - Less inventory = More stockouts It's a death spiral. We track out-of-stock percentage like our life depends on it. Because for our brands, it does. Sales velocity means nothing if you can't fulfill orders. Total revenue is just a vanity metric when your hero SKUs go dark. Q4 isn't about having the most inventory. It's about never running out of the right inventory. What's your out-of-stock percentage heading into peak?

Outdated catalogs don’t just slow you down—they cost you sales. When retailers see unavailable products or wrong pricing, trust breaks and orders vanish. With real-time catalog updates, your distributors get accurate stock, smooth reordering, and zero guesswork. The result? Fewer stockouts, stronger relationships, and sales that keep climbing. #ecommerce #retailers #onlinesale #globalbusiness #globalsales #catalog

💼 Case Study: Balancing Profit & Pricing During Buy Box Wars One of my wholesale clients recently asked: “How can I stay competitive in the Buy Box without killing my margins?” During Q4, their listing had 8 active sellers — prices dropping every hour. Instead of joining the race to the bottom, I set up rule-based repricing with a defined profit floor using Aura Repricer, monitored Buy Box rotation via Keepa, and optimized their FBA fulfillment & metrics. Result? They kept a 6–8% higher price than competitors, maintained steady sales, and protected profit margins even during peak traffic. The key wasn’t lowering prices — it was strategic automation, timing, and strong account health. Smart pricing wins the Buy Box. Smart strategy keeps the profit. 💡 #AmazonWholesale #BuyBoxStrategy #EcommerceGrowth #FBA #Helium10 #AmazonSellerTips #Repricing #EcommerceCaseStudy #Q4Strategy

We lost over ₵10,000 in spoiled inventory! And we run out of our best sellers that same week. Chaley, hmmm... The Pain: - 47 customers turned away (₵23,500 lost sales). - ₵10,000+ expired stock trashed. - Cash flow disrupted - Reputation damaged The Fix: The VLS System: - Velocity – how fast each product sells daily - Lead Time – how long it takes to restock - Seasonality – when demand spikes (paydays, holidays, festivals, etc.) Reorder Formula: - Reorder Point = (Avg Daily Sales × Lead Time) + Safety Stock Here's a simple routine you can copy: - Daily: track top 10 products + check reorder points - Weekly: update velocity + plan orders - Monthly: adjust for seasonality + cut slow movers Results: - Fewer stockouts - Lower holding costs (free up cashflows) - Predictable cash flow - Happier customers Most businesses never track their top selling products. Start from here. Track your: - Daily sales - Restock time - Seasonal demand The biggest things is to start, then pivot. What’s your biggest inventory challenge right now—overstocking or stockouts?

❓ “How much did that discount promotion actually 💶 make you?” I asked in a meeting with the CEO and CMO of a 40-store chain. “We’re not sure. Could you work it out?” the CEO said. I walked to the whiteboard, started asking questions, and the CEO and CMO gave me the numbers. By the end, we had established that the annual discount event produced a double loss. 📉 The first loss was immediate. Worse, as is standard market behavior, customers stocked up while prices were low. So later—when they would normally have bought at full price—the 40-store chain would have neither margin nor cash flow. Running discounting profitably is very, even extremely, hard. See the attached table If a customer buys 25 units instead of 24, they get one free—and still save €10. Mistakes like this happen in both B2B and B2C. I can recall at least two cases in my career where prices were set so badly that the more the company sold, the more money it lost. But that’s a story for another time.

It’s not the big mistakes that cost retailers the most. It’s the small ones - repeated across hundreds of products, stores and weeks. Across sectors, we regularly see 10–30% of potential sales lost - not through big blunders, but through small mistakes repeated at scale. Think of a transfer that comes too late, a product that sells out without anyone noticing or a best-seller that is placed in the wrong store. The problem is that these things are hard to catch. You need to analyse down to the item level, including the products that weren’t there to sell. And that’s exactly how it adds up - quietly, but consistently.

Costco's sales increased 8% year-over-year last month, with online sales surging 26%. Costco's same-store sales grew nearly 6% in September, demonstrating the effectiveness of new promotions, including exclusive shopping hours for some members and discounts through Instacart. Costco reported an 8% year-over-year increase in sales last month on Wednesday, continuing its strong performance and allaying Wall Street concerns about future growth momentum. Costco's stock rose 1.7% after the bell on Wednesday. Costco said sales reached $26.58 billion in the five weeks ending October 5, with same-store sales increasing 5.7% over the same period. In addition, sales, including all orders placed via digital devices, surged 26.1% over the same period. International same-store sales (excluding gasoline and foreign exchange) outside the U.S. and Canada grew 7.5%, also beating expectations. D.A. Davidson analyst Michael Baker said in a report Wednesday that Costco's latest results were solid despite a high base. He noted that while same-store sales slowed in September compared to August, this was primarily due to a higher base comparison, as consumers rushed to buy ahead of schedule due to Hurricane Helene and concerns about a port strike. As of Wednesday's close, Costco's stock price had risen only 0.6% in the past year. Wall Street investors are assessing Costco's growth potential amid inflationary pressures. The company announced last month that same-store sales growth after its listing was 5.7%, which was slightly lower than market expectations, but it said that exclusive offers for some members are taking effect

Preparing Your Stock for a Successful Q4 KeyInsights from Iani Doynov from EcommerceVille Make sure you have enough stock for Q4; many focus on deals and ads but forget about inventory. If this isn’t your first Q4, use last year’s sales to estimate demand; if it is, expect some uncertainty. Take into account growth trends (e.g., 10–15% per year) and that Q4 sales are usually higher (about 1.5× normal monthly sales). It’s better to have a bit extra stock than not enough, so you don’t miss out on sales. #Q4Planning #AmazonFBA #EcommerceTips #InventoryManagement #PeakSeasonSales #SellMore #BusinessGrowth #OnlineSelling #StockUp #EcommerceStrategy

5 Inventory Problems Negotiation Can Solve (That Discounting Will Never) In e-commerce, “discount” has become the default lever for moving inventory. It’s quick, easy, and familiar. But here’s the truth: constant discounting erodes margins, trains customers to wait for the next sale, and often fails to address the real challenges retailers face with inventory. That’s where negotiation comes in. By inviting customers to engage in price discussions, rather than passively waiting for markdowns, brands unlock powerful dynamics that discounting alone cannot achieve. Here are five inventory problems negotiation solves that discounting will not: 1. Overstock Without Brand Erosion 2. Slow-Moving SKUs 3. Margin Protection 4. Seasonal Surplus 5. Customer Engagement With Inventory #salesagent #Omnicierge #AIsales

Retailers aren’t discounting because they want to. They’re discounting because they’re trapped. 👇 Let me explain: A retailer sees traffic dip. So they run a promotion. Sales bounce. Briefly. Then they dip again. So they discount more. And the cycle continues… Next quarter, to meet last quarter, guess what needs to be done? More promos... Until customers are trained to never buy full price. It’s not a pricing strategy. It’s a margin death spiral. I’ve seen this movie too many times. Oh, you recognize yourself when reading this and want to know how to escape that spiral? Here are 4 great starting points: – Know your product rules (not how your category guys see it but how your customers see it). – Build strategic price ladders. – Clarify your “Good-Better-Best” positioning. – Build a pricing architecture that aligns with brand value. Again, from the customer's perspective. One of our clients cut promo frequency by 35% and grew revenue. Because they stopped discounting blindly and started managing perception. Escaping the discount trap isn’t about cutting promos. It’s about rebuilding trust in your price. #RetailPricing #PromotionsStrategy #BrandPerception #MarginMatters #RetailLeadership