Published 31st Jan 2023, 16:45 BST

The research found that Yorkshire retailers are currently sitting on an average of £66,000 worth of excess stock, and that last year, 25 per cent of excess stock was written off altogether in the region.

Inventory Planner CMO Sara Arthrell said: “Excess stock is a huge issue for retailers in Yorkshire at this time of year, and a tsunami of returns which always comes in January after peak trading is going to make these problems even worse.

“Many retailers struggled with product shortages during the pandemic due to understandable supply issues, now they are faced with the opposite problem - a glut of unsold merchandise which is eating into profits.”

Inventory Planner's research found that Yorkshire retailers are currently sitting on an average of £66,000 worth of excess stock, and that last year, 25 per cent of excess stock was written off altogether in the region.

In the firm’s poll of 500 retailers, almost six out of ten told Inventory Planner there would be “dangerous ramifications” for their business if they failed to sell excess stock.

A total of 62 per cent of large retailers (£100m-£500m turnover) said they had excess stock, compared to 42 per cent of SMEs (£100,000-£1m).

Six out of ten retailers are planning to offer even more discounting to try to shift the unwanted products.

Inventory Planner has released a free report on how to tackle New Year excess inventory, which is available from its website.

Almost half of Yorkshire retailers struggling with excess stock, new research from Inventory Planner finds