Stock drifts for small reasons: a return restocked without a record, a cancelled order that never released its reservation, a count done by eye. The fix is not counting more often: it is every unit that moves leaving a record, and counting in parts every week.
Published · Vialog Fulfillment
A movement ledger nobody edits (inbounds, shipments, adjustments, who and when). Cycle counts: a part of the warehouse every week, without stopping work. Automatic reservations on sale and release on cancellation, so the website never sells what is already set aside.
A SKU that runs out within a week at its sales pace with no inbound announced. Stock that has not moved for months. Lots about to expire. A slot that needs adjusting again and again (something is wrong there).
Physical stock is what sits on the shelves; available stock is what you can sell: physical stock minus what is reserved for orders already placed, what is in quarantine (unchecked returns) and what is damaged. Your store and marketplaces should always receive the available figure, or you will sell units that already belong to someone.
It is the buffer of units you keep so you do not run out if you sell more than expected or your supplier is late. A simple way to calculate it: maximum daily sales times maximum replenishment lead time, minus average daily sales times average lead time. Review it per SKU and per season, not once a year.
First, find out which it is: SKUs with no movement in recent months, ranked by what they cost you in storage and by their value. Then decide with data: discount, bundle with a product that does sell, sell through another channel or withdraw it. Every month it sits on the shelf adds storage cost and loses value.
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