Nine inventory practices that separate calm garment businesses from busy ones

Agree the codes before the quantities

A style code that encodes fabric, fit and colour consistently is worth more than any report. Once codes drift, two people create two SKUs for the same garment and the stock figure splits quietly in half.

• One naming convention for styles, sizes and colours
• Reorder levels set from real supplier lead times
• Cycle counts on fast movers weekly, everything else monthly
• Ageing review each month for stock older than one season

Count small and often instead of large and rarely

A full physical stock take is a shutdown. Counting a slice of fast-moving styles every week finds the same errors earlier, with no disruption, and keeps the team honest about entries.

Treat slow stock as a decision, not a fact

Ageing stock has a cost that never appears on an invoice. Reviewing it monthly turns it into a decision - discount, bundle into ratio packs, or push through a different channel - while it still has value.