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How to stop stock from disappearing

Missing stock is rarely one big theft. It is small leaks: unrecorded sales, damage and miscounts. Here is how to find and fix them.

1 min read

  • inventory
  • basics
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Stand-in photo from Pexels

When the shelf says 8 and your book says 12, the gap is money. Most of the time it is not theft: it is records that did not keep up.

Where stock usually goes

  • Unrecorded sales on busy days.
  • Damage and expiry nobody wrote down.
  • Miscounts at delivery.
  • Theft, less often than people think.

A simple weekly routine

  1. Pick your 10 fastest sellers.
  2. Count them at the same time each week.
  3. Record any difference as an adjustment with a reason.
  4. Look for the same product appearing again and again.
Example weekly count
ItemCountedExpectedGap
Rice 5kg1214-2
Peak Milk tin40400
Indomie carton67-1
Metal frame of beams joined by red spheres
Label every shelf so counts are quick.

Frequently asked questions

How often should I count stock?

Count fast sellers weekly and everything else at least once a month.

Writes Zuru’s guides and spends her Saturdays in markets asking shop owners what slows them down.

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