A shoe shop does not run out of shoes. It runs out of the right size. You can have forty pairs of a style on the shelf and still lose the sale, because the customer wants a 9 and all you have is 6s and 11s. Good inventory management in a shoe shop is mostly about sizes.
Count by size, not by style
Counting "12 pairs of the black loafer" tells you very little. Counting "one 6, three 7s, none in 8, four 9s, four 10s" tells you what you can actually sell. Keep a separate count for every size of every style. In BusinessX you add the shoe once, then add a row for each size with its own count, so a sale takes stock from the size that was sold.
Learn your size curve
Over a few months you will see that some sizes sell far faster than others. In many shops the middle sizes go first and the extremes sit. Look at what you sold by size, then buy to that pattern instead of buying one of each size. A rough rule: buy more of the sizes that sold out last season, fewer of the ones that sat.
Restock one size at a time
When a delivery brings two pairs of size 9, add two to size 9 and leave the rest alone. Do not retype the whole item. Add a new size to an existing style when it arrives. Doing this the day stock lands keeps the shelf and the records the same.
Spot dead sizes early
Dead stock in a shoe shop is almost always the same few sizes: the very small, the very large, and the odd widths. Once a month, list the sizes that have not sold in the last two or three months. Mark those down, pair them with a popular size as an offer, or stop reordering them.
Handle exchanges properly
Exchanges are common in footwear: the size is wrong, the fit is off. If an exchange is only handled with a swap across the counter and no record, the count for both sizes drifts. Record the return so the returned pair goes back into stock, then record the new sale for the size that left. BusinessX puts the returned quantity back into stock when you record a return.
Know what your stock cost you
Shoes tie up a lot of money. Check the total cost of the stock you hold, not just how many pairs you have. The stock list in BusinessX shows total stock cost at the top. If that number keeps climbing while sales stay flat, you are overbuying.
Plan for the seasons
Sandals, school shoes, festival wear and formal shoes each have a season. Look at last year's sales for each, order a few weeks before the season, and mark down what is left when it ends. Carrying last season's sandals for a year costs more than a discount does.
What should the best inventory app for a shoe shop do?
Judge any app on a short list:
- A separate count for every size, sold from the right size.
- Restocking a single size without retyping the item.
- Returns that put stock back.
- Low-stock indicators, so thin sizes show before a customer asks.
- Profit per pair, using your cost and selling price.
- The total value of stock.
- It keeps working with no signal.
Try any app with five real styles and a few sales before you commit. BusinessX covers each of these; see inventory software for shoe and clothing shops to check how.
A simple weekly routine
- Monday: look at sizes that are at zero or one pair, and reorder.
- Midweek: record any returns and exchanges the same day they happen.
- Weekend: count one section of the shelf against the records.
- End of month: list dead sizes and decide on markdowns.
For a count routine that does not close the shop, see how to count stock without closing. If you sell clothes as well, the clothing store guide covers sizes and colours together.