The Setup
The buyer at a single-location dispensary reordered the same way every time: call the vendor, order what they ordered last time, maybe adjust a SKU if something was obviously sitting. No data. No velocity metrics. No idea which products were actually earning their shelf space.
The result: 15-20% of inventory sat past 60 days. Some products expired. Cash was tied up in product that wasn't moving. The buyer wasn't making bad decisions — they just didn't have any information to make better ones.
What Changed
We showed the buyer the data that was already being generated through their consignment settlements and AP management. For every SKU from every vendor, they could now see:
- Units sold per week (velocity)
- Days of inventory on hand
- Margin earned per SKU
- Aging status — how close product is to a markdown or expiration threshold
Instead of reordering the same 50 units of everything, they started ordering 80 of the fast movers and cutting the slow ones entirely.
How It Works
We generate this data as a byproduct of running consignment settlements and verifying invoices. The buyer doesn't log into a separate analytics tool — the data lives in the settlement reports and the retailer dashboard. It's already there because we're already managing the vendor payments.
The key metric was days-in-inventory adjusted for velocity. A SKU with 10 units and 3 days of inventory is healthy. A SKU with 10 units and 45 days of inventory is a problem. The raw unit count doesn't tell you anything — velocity does.
The buyer started walking into vendor meetings with numbers instead of guesses. "Your top two SKUs are selling 40 units a week. Your bottom three haven't moved in 30 days. I want more of the first and none of the second." Vendors respond to that.
The Result
In the first 60 days of using the data, the buyer cut 8 underperforming SKUs and doubled orders on 5 top performers. Waste — inventory past 60 days — dropped 23%. Cash freed up went back into the products that were actually selling.
The vendor conversations changed too. When a buyer shows up with sell-through data and velocity metrics, the negotiation shifts. Vendors start proposing solutions instead of pushing product. Both sides make better decisions.
The buyer was ordering by memory. Now they order by margin, velocity, and days on shelf. Waste dropped 23% in two months.
The data is already being generated if you're running consignment or managed AP through ShelfSpace. You just have to look at it. Talk to us — we'll show you what your sell-through data says about your current inventory.