Footwear Store Inventory: Size Runs, Reorders and Dead Stock

A footwear store carries a lot of stock to make a sale. One design in eight sizes and three colours is 24 SKUs, and customers will only buy if their exact size is available. That makes footwear store inventory management unusually demanding: buy too evenly across sizes and you are left with small and large sizes nobody buys; buy too tightly and you lose sales in the middle sizes. This guide covers how to set up footwear stock, buy by size curve, manage broken sizes and reorders, and clear ageing stock before it becomes dead money.

Setting Up Footwear as Variants

Each design (article) should be one product with variants for size and colour. Each variant has its own barcode and stock. Key points:

• Use the size system you sell in: UK sizes are common in India; some brands use EU or Indian sizes. Keep one consistent size set per category.
• Separate men's, women's and kids' size sets.
• Fixed colour names so reports group correctly.
• Article number: keep the brand's article code as a reference for reorders.

The unit is a pair. Stock, sales and counts are in pairs, and the barcode on each box identifies the variant.

Understanding the Size Run

A size run is the range and quantity of sizes bought for an article. Suppose a hypothetical men's casual shoe sells in this pattern over a season in a store:

UK size	6	7	8	9	10	11
Share of sales	6%	17%	27%	26%	17%	7%
Order for 48 pairs	3	8	13	12	8	4
Equal order (for comparison)	8	8	8	8	8	8

With an equal order, sizes 8 and 9 sell out within weeks, while 5 pairs each of sizes 6 and 11 remain at season end. With the curve-based order, the store sells more full-price pairs and carries less leftover. Calculate your own size curve from variant-level sales for each category; women's sandals will have a very different curve from men's sports shoes.

Broken Sizes: The Silent Sales Killer

An article is "broken" when key middle sizes are sold out but extreme sizes remain. The system shows stock, but the article barely sells because most customers cannot find their size. A weekly broken size report should list articles where core sizes (for example 7 to 10 in men's) have zero stock.

For each broken article, decide:

• Replenish core sizes if the article is still in season and selling well.
• Transfer sizes from another store.
• Mark down the remaining sizes if replenishment is not possible.

Left alone, broken articles become dead stock. See our guide to size and colour variants in apparel for the same idea applied to garments.

Reordering

For continuing articles (school shoes, basic chappals, formal black shoes), set minimum stock per size based on recent sales and supplier lead time. For fashion articles bought once per season, reorders are less common; the focus shifts to selling through what you bought.

Worked example: a school shoe sells 4 pairs a week in size 4 during the school-opening season. If the supplier takes 2 weeks to deliver and you want 1 week of safety stock, the reorder point is 4 x 3 = 12 pairs. Plan season peaks (school reopening, wedding season, festivals) separately, with orders placed well before demand rises.

Ageing and Dead Stock

Footwear ages: styles go out of fashion, materials deteriorate in storage, and soles can harden over time. Track ageing by article from the date received:

Age bucket	Typical action
0 to 90 days	Full price; watch sell-through
91 to 180 days	Review slow articles; first markdown if sell-through is low
181 to 365 days	Deeper markdown, bundle offers, transfer to a better-selling store
Over 365 days	Clearance, return to supplier if agreed, or liquidation

Suppose a store has ₹6 lakh of stock at cost, of which ₹1.2 lakh is over a year old. That ₹1.2 lakh is cash sitting on shelves, taking space from new styles. Clearing it even at cost frees money to buy articles that sell.

Sell-Through Rate

Sell-through is pairs sold divided by pairs received, for an article over a period. An article with 60 pairs received and 45 sold in 8 weeks has 75 percent sell-through, a strong performer. One with 15 sold of 60 has 25 percent and needs action. Review sell-through at 4 and 8 weeks after receipt; early markdowns on slow articles recover more value than late ones.

Planning the Season's Buy

Before visiting suppliers or trade fairs, set an open-to-buy budget: how much you can spend on new stock this season, based on expected sales, the stock you already have and the stock you want to hold at season end. Suppose you expect ₹12 lakh of sales at retail over the season, with an average 45 percent markdown-adjusted margin, so roughly ₹6.6 lakh of stock at cost will be sold. If you already hold ₹2 lakh of saleable stock and want to end the season with ₹2.5 lakh, your buying budget is about ₹7.1 lakh at cost. Split it by category based on last season's sell-through, giving more to categories that sold through well. Without a budget, it is easy to overbuy attractive samples and run short of cash for replenishing best sellers.

Selling Online as Well

If you also sell through your own website or marketplaces, the same pair can be sold in two places at once. Keep a single stock record with online channels reading from it, or reserve a fixed quantity per size for online, so you do not accept an online order for a size that just sold in the store. Returns from online sales are higher in footwear, mostly for fit, so factor that into which articles you list online.

Storage and Finding Stock Quickly

In many shoe stores, only one shoe of each article is on display and the boxes are in a back store. A salesperson searching for size 8 in a disorganised back room loses the sale. Organise the back store:

• Racks labelled by category and brand.
• Boxes stacked by article and then by size in order.
• Box labels facing outward with size clearly visible.
• Location codes in the system so staff can check where an article is stored.

Count stock by scanning box barcodes, rack by rack. Count display pieces separately and make sure display pairs are tracked so they are not lost.

Exchanges for Size

Size exchanges are common. Process each as a return of the original variant and a sale of the new one, linked to the original bill. Check the shoes for wear before accepting. Track exchange reasons by brand; if one brand's sizes run small, staff can advise customers to try a size up, reducing exchanges.

GST on Footwear at the Counter

GST on footwear depends on the sale price per pair. Following the rate changes effective 22 September 2025, footwear up to a specified value per pair falls under 5 percent and higher-priced pairs under 18 percent (the threshold was reported as ₹2,500 per pair). Because the rate depends on the transaction value, a discount can move a pair into the lower slab. Configure your POS to decide the rate on the final selling price of each pair, and confirm the current threshold with your accountant.

Reports for a Footwear Store

• Sell-through by article and brand.
• Size curve by category.
• Broken size list.
• Stock ageing by bucket and value.
• Exchange reasons by brand.
• Margin after markdowns by brand.

Common Mistakes

• Buying equal quantities per size.
• One barcode for all sizes of an article.
• Ignoring broken sizes until season end.
• Waiting too long to mark down slow articles.
• A disorganised back store that hides stock.
• Exchanges done informally without system entries.

Practical Questions Owners Ask

How should display shoes be tracked?

Track display pieces in the system, either as stock in a display location or as part of the pair count, so they are not lost or forgotten. Count them separately during stock audits.

When should I clear old footwear stock?

Review stock by age bucket. Start markdowns on slow articles within the first few months, and clear anything older than about a year through deeper discounts, supplier returns where agreed, or liquidation.

How Fininvo Fits

Fininvo ERP manages variant stock in its inventory and products catalogue, and its Retail & POS workspace includes fashion, returns and label printing pages. Some modules are switched on per account, so check pricing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I decide how many pairs to buy in each size?

Use your size curve: the share of past sales for each size in that category. Apply it to the total pairs you plan to buy, and recalculate each season.

What is a broken size in footwear retail?

An article is broken when its core sizes are sold out while extreme sizes remain. It looks like stock in the system but rarely sells.

How can I reduce dead stock in my shoe store?

Track sell-through and ageing, mark down slow articles early, transfer sizes between stores, and buy by size curve instead of equal quantities.

Should each shoe size have its own barcode?

Yes. Each size and colour combination needs its own barcode so stock and sales by size are accurate.

Does a discount change the GST rate on footwear?

It can, because the rate depends on the sale value per pair. If a discount brings the price below the threshold, the lower rate may apply. Confirm the current threshold with your accountant.