The State of Inventory on Black Friday 2024

If you keep up much with the state of the outdoor industry, you’ll know that we’re not alone in being overstocked this holiday season. In response to the outdoor boom associated with the COVID pandemic, brands and retailers upped their order quantities. When the boom began to dwindle, consumers and retailers bought less than expected, leaving brands with more inventory than demand, which has affected market trends since. Although we’re working to rightsize our inventory by ordering less in the future (more on this later), we’re still left with the excess from seasons past.

This is problematic for a couple key reasons:

1. The Business Case - It’s no secret that we make products in exchange for money. As a small business who hasn’t yet figured out how to pay our bills with pants (not for lack of trying), having more products and less dollars than planned is a problem. We currently have about 12 months worth of inventory, whereas we’d ideally have about 6.
2. The Environmental Case - It’s also no secret that the creation of our products has an impact on the environment (see here for details). We believe that a product’s function should be at least proportional to the resources that went into making it. When a product is sitting in a box in a warehouse, it’s not living up to its functional potential.

Some companies plan for excess. It’s actually part of their business model: cheap production, high margins, big sales. Sales allow companies to recoup the cost of production and continue producing in a way that exceeds demand. For this reason, we don’t generally like sales.

For us, excess is not built into our financial plan or environmental standards. To avoid producing in excess of demand, we are iterating our buying strategy in the following ways: ordering smaller batches in higher frequency for greater accuracy, buying below MOQ of new products despite surcharges, using projections from sales reps, leaning into software that uses historical data to predict future demand, and building relationships with retailers to encourage preorders and open communication.

Although we plan to be in a healthier inventory situation in the future, we need to find good homes for products that have already been made. We believe, because we make products that are highly functional, versatile, and timeless, that there is a meaningful place in the world for these products. However, the person who could put them to good use may not know about them yet…so we’re working to get in front of new eyes. The person who could put them to good use may not typically buy products at our normal price point…so we’re lowering the price for a short time.

Our hope is that, although our products are less expensive right now, our customers will still carefully consider each purchase. In the same way that a product in a box in a warehouse is not living up to its functional potential, a product sitting in the back of a closet isn’t either.

We’ve considered requiring adoption applications before purchase, but the folks in ops say that’s a bad idea, so we’re leaving it to you. Before you buy (from us or anywhere), we encourage you to ask yourself the following questions (adapted from @forgottenellipses on r/shoppingaddiction ) to decide if you’re a good fit:

• Do I have a similar product already?

• Does this product fill a genuine need in my closet, or is it a want?

• Am I buying this just because it’s on sale?

• Will I use this product on a regular basis or could I borrow something similar for the rare occasion that I’ll need it?

• Will I use the product in a way that allows it to live up to its functional potential?

• Is buying this product worth the environmental impact of its production and eventual end of life?

• Does the money serve a better purpose elsewhere?

• Am I just bored/sad/lonely and using this new product as a distraction?

• Do I have space for said product?

• Am I buying this product just because of the packaging, marketing, or hype?

• Am I buying this because I fear it will go out of stock?

• Will my life be markedly different if I purchase this product? How? Is this a tangible difference directly caused by the product or is it an aspirational difference?

This Black Friday season, we’re excited to offer products we believe in at a lower price point in order to find them their forever homes. Wherever you shop this season, we encourage you to do so with thoughtfulness and intention. ‘Tis the season.