Yield management: it's not just about sell-thru, it's about strategy.

Part 2 – From Insights to Action in Inventory Management In my last post, I shared how pie and doughnut charts reveal stock balance and slow-moving items. But let’s go deeper. What happens when we zoom into specific products? Top 5 Fast-Selling Products (Bar Chart) Problem: Businesses risk losing money when they can’t keep up with demand for best-sellers. Solution: Instead of only restocking, use these insights to: ✅ Bundle fast-sellers with slow movers ✅ Slightly increase their price without hurting sales ✅ Feature them in campaigns to maximize profit 📉 Slow-Moving Products (Column Chart) Problem: Unsold items silently drain resources. Solution: Don’t just discount, turn dead stock into revenue by: ➡️ Pairing with fast-sellers (“Buy a wireless mouse, get a desk lamp at 30% off”) ➡️ Creating combo deals ➡️ Targeting niche buyers who value those items ✨ Why this matters: Data is not just about seeing what sells, it’s about strategically moving what doesn’t. That’s how businesses unlock revenue hiding in plain sight. 💬 Which strategy do you think works better: bundling slow movers or targeting niche audiences?

Demand planners are experts at spotting signals hidden in plain sight. Who won’t hit lead time. When a trend is just noise. Where to move the inventory no one saw coming. Those little gut calls are qualitative intel. That’s leverage most systems won't see (without human influence.) But you wont find them tagged, tracked, or searchable... → They're in someone's head: “Demand lift hits ~2 weeks after marketing drops.” → Some are scribbled on coffee napkins, lost in a pocket: “Containers stuck in customs = red flag for Q4.” → Others are buried in emails or "saved for later" in Slack DMs: “Sales seeing early lift from bundle deals.” And there's no time to unpack ad-hoc tweaks when demand constantly shifts. Daybreak was built to help planning teams capture the logic that has traditionally been ignored. But we knew “track your logic” would flop if it felt like more work. That's why journalling is baked right into the override. We’ve spent decades refining planner math. Now we’re making space for planner judgment. #DemandPlanning #SupplyChainInsights #InventoryManagement #DataDrivenDecisions #QualitativeAnalysis #MarketTrends #LogisticsOptimization #HumanIntuition #BusinessAgility #TeamCollaboration

Demand planners are experts at spotting signals hidden in plain sight. Who won’t hit lead time. When a trend is just noise. Where to move the inventory no one saw coming. Those little gut calls are qualitative intel. That’s leverage most systems won't see (without human influence.) But you wont find them tagged, tracked, or searchable... → They're in someone's head: “Demand lift hits ~2 weeks after marketing drops.” → Some are scribbled on coffee napkins, lost in a pocket: “Containers stuck in customs = red flag for Q4.” → Others are buried in emails or "saved for later" in Slack DMs: “Sales seeing early lift from bundle deals.” And there's no time to unpack ad-hoc tweaks when demand constantly shifts. Daybreak was built to help planning teams capture the logic that has traditionally been ignored. But we knew “track your logic” would flop if it felt like more work. That's why journalling is baked right into the override. We’ve spent decades refining planner math. Now we’re making space for planner judgment. #DemandPlanning #SupplyChainInsights #InventoryManagement #DataDrivenDecisions #QualitativeAnalysis #MarketTrends #LogisticsOptimization #HumanIntuition #BusinessAgility #TeamCollaboration

We see this with every brand we work with. Doesn’t matter if they’re backed by institutional funding or bootstrapping out of their garage. Balancing cash flow, sales, and production is a tightrope. And without a forecast, it feels like you’re walking the tightrope with a blindfold. Inventory planning for an emerging CPG brand is basically the Goldilocks problem: >>Too little = stockouts and frustrated customers. >>Too much = cash tied up and, in food & bev, sometimes wasted product. The goal is always just enough so you can grow without guessing. I’ve worked with Founders at every stage, and I know most shy away from forecasting because they think it’s too expensive, too complex, or something only nerdy MBAs care about. Truth is, forecasting can be lightweight and powerful. And here’s what it could give you: - Clarity on when to reorder - Visibility into cash flow needs - Fewer stockout/overstock headaches - Confidence to expand at the right pace You don’t need fancy software to start. A spreadsheet, your sales data, and a regular rhythm with your sales, ops, and finance leads is enough. Start with the basics: 1. Meet as a team and review data regularly 2. Set reorder points based on actual lead times 3. Track sell-through and ordering patterns 4. Use recent trends instead of old guesses If you want to build a process that your team actually uses (instead of ignoring), let’s talk.

Kill the Marketing Department (Not the people, the silos) We’re in 2025. Almost everything can be automated, yet brands still split the buyer journey into three fiefdoms: Sales, Marketing, Digital. Each defends its patch, optimizes a local metric, and the customer gets a disjointed experience. Expression → engagement is not the win; revenue with meaningful measurement is. I sat with a senior team last week. Great intentions, smart leaders. But the real blocker wasn’t tooling, it was hierarchy. Three teams, three roadmaps, three dashboards. Who owns the customer from discovery to purchase to post-purchase? No one. So the buyer falls through the cracks. My take: collapse the silos into a Revenue Team with one plan, one budget thesis, one scoreboard. Marketing stops throwing “engagement” over the wall; Sales stops treating top-funnel like someone else’s problem; “Digital” becomes the workflow engine, not a separate kingdom. Measure pipeline created, velocity, win-rate, CAC payback, LTV, and NRR. Everything else is cosmetics. If your org chart fragments the journey, your customer feels it, and your competitors bank it. Boss level isn’t another tool; it’s a unified operating system. If you want my 30-day “Revenue Team Sprint” (no big reorg, just new rules of engagement), comment REVENUE or DM me. I’ll share the one-pager and a simple scorecard you can ship next week. #Transformation #GTM #CustomerJourney #Marketing #Sales #Digital

The problem isn’t your ads. The problem isn’t your product. 👉 The problem is your data. When finance, ops, and marketing are all working off different dashboards, you don’t just lose clarity, you lose confidence. That’s when teams stop trusting each other. And when leadership is forced to make guesses instead of decisions. Across the DTC space, the same pattern shows up again and again: ❌ Sales numbers don’t tie back to ads ❌ Returns quietly eat into margins ❌ Finance can’t reconcile cash flow with reported profits The answer isn’t another dashboard. The answer is a single, trusted source of truth. When you unify sales, ads, returns, and inventory into one truth file, you finally see: ✅ Which campaigns are winning ✅ Which products are bleeding ✅ Where the money is really going Curious — do you feel you have one source of truth today? Or are you still piecing it together week by week?

Q4 Revenue Architecture (A Strategic Framework): Most brands fixate on calendar logistics (Amazon Early Access, traditional BFCM, extended December promotions). This is tactical thinking. Strategic operators ask: → What's our primary KPI? Top-line growth, contribution margin, or CAC:LTV? → Where does our offer sit in the consumer's consideration hierarchy? → What's our competitive positioning for finite wallet share? Offer Architecture: • Straight discounts (20-30%): Low level of sophistication • Deep discounts (40%+): Volume play, requires careful unit economics • BOGO structures: Operational complexity, inventory challenges • Bundle strategies: AOV optimization, better margin preservation Core Performance Drivers: • Timing - Share of wallet capture strategy • Discounts - Margin preservation vs. volume acceleration • Segmentation - Cohort specific value props • Inventory - Supply chain capacity modeling Timeline: • Q2: Offer finalized, creative strategy deployed • Early Q3: Offer validation through controlled testing • Late Q3: Scale coefficient optimization, kill underperformers • Q4: Pure execution Consumer spending capacity is finite and front-loaded. Early movers with compelling offers capture disproportionate share. The brands crushing Q4 locked their strategy in Q2. October pivots are essentially capitulation. For giftable categories, this represents 40-60% of annual revenue. This is your Super Bowl.

𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝘂𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝘀. But capital without operational discipline? That's gasoline on a leaky engine.   I've seen brands raise millions, only to lose control of the very thing that made them profitable — execution.   Funding can amplify a model, but it can't fix a weak one. And when growth masks inefficiency, cracks turn into craters fast.   Here's where things usually break first: → Fulfillment cost overruns hidden behind marketing ROAS. → Inventory data scattered across channels. → Teams are scaling headcount faster than processes.   The result? Burn without balance.   Money doesn't replace fundamentals. It multiplies whatever system you already have, good or bad.   That's why the smartest mid-market founders treat capital as fuel for 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, not speed. They invest in the boring stuff — unified fulfillment, operator-led systems, and clean data — before ramping up their spending.   Because when every dollar is tracked through an efficient engine, scaling not only accelerates growth but also enables more effective decision-making. It compounds it.   ↳ If your capital were to double tomorrow, would your systems be able to keep up, or would they collapse under pressure?   #FundingStrategy #DTCGrowth #OperationalExcellence #ScalingStrategy #EcommerceLeadership

𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗼𝘂𝘁𝘀 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵. 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗵. So how do we plan for – and maintain – 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘤𝘬?  That was the focus of our recent Stock & Demand Planning Masterclass.  Joining us to share their expertise and help us troubleshoot were: • James Blacklock: Ex-Boohoo, M&Co and Arcadia • Sarah Betts: Commercial Director @ New Look • Anna Whalley: Ex-PLT, Jon Richard, Jaeger and Matalan • Lindsay Fisher: Co-founder @ Sparkbox Some key takeaways from the day: • 𝗢𝗯𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲: Focus on growing the core – the products your customers love and consistently deliver strong sales metrics. They serve as your foundation as you continue to test newness. • 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺𝘀: Be clear on the processes that work for your business and seek technology that can enhance these. Don’t let a system dictate how you operate. • 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿: Whether its sell-through rates, full price mix or intake/exit margins – clearly outline and track the KPIs that will define success for you. • 𝗕𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: Be clear on the goals of your discount activity: is it to drive volume, attract new customers or to clear stock? Be sure it supports your broader business strategy. • 𝗧𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀: Add real value to your wholesale partners by providing insights to help them drive sales. Collaborative working on forecasting and stock commitments is key. Lindsay then highlighted the power of data and AI tools in stock and demand planning, but stressed the importance of human judgement and oversight. To all our experts – a huge thank you!

When Marketing Moves Fast, Ops Must Move Faster. A mid-sized FMCG client launched a campaign with a top influencer. Sales surged 3x. Traffic spiked. But here’s what went wrong: ❌ Stockouts in 3 key regions ❌ Warehouses missed routing timelines ❌ Customer service backlog for 6 days Why? Marketing was ready. Operations weren’t. Here’s what we helped them put in place: ✅ Pre-campaign volume simulations ✅ Real-time inventory buffer alerts ✅ Demand–promo planning alignment with sales & ops 📉 Result: 28% faster fulfillment next launch, zero stockouts. 📢 Want your next sales spike to drive growth, not chaos? 👉 https://lnkd.in/eqAvBMfD #OperationalReadiness #CampaignExecution #FMCGScaling #TWPInsights #SupplyChainPerformance #TheWolfPractice