Jun 8, 2026 · 13 min · 8 segments
In today's FittBite, we cover why bulk quantity is only part of the inventory decision. The real risk often comes from how those units are split across sizes. Wrong size curves can lead to sold-out…
Shadi AdadaHost
Dead stock is product that you have tied up, that's cash in your inventory that you cannot use because that's product you do not sell.
And you have this dead stock, not because the design was bad or because you launched it at the wrong time or the wrong price, but because you picked the wrong sizes.
You actually had the right sizes for a specific quantity of the product, but the wrong sizes for a specific other quantity of that same product.
So you sold through the size small, the size medium, maybe even the size large quickly, but you ordered too much of the XL, the XXL.
This is a problem that a lot of brands face, and this is a killer of brands, both small and large.
So how can you as a startup brand or an existing brand learn how to pick the right sizing range and specifications to match the type of customer, the type of market, and the type of product? Because most customers look at inventory as I have 100 pieces, so I'll split up that 100 pieces evenly across all my products.
And although on the surface that might feel safe and predictable, the question shouldn't be how many units should I order of that product? It's how should I split up my sizing? So that I'm not left with any that stock across any of the sizes and how should those units be split up across the sizes? So that way it matches the customer's taste as well as the product intention, because different products with different intentions have different outcomes and they affect the way sizing works.
So if you're interested in terms of how you should split up your sizes so that you're never left without an unsold size and you're not victim to debt stock, then this is going to be the episode for you.
I am the co-founder of the world's first sportswear design agency where we take ideas and turn them into physical products in literally under 30 days.
And over the last 10 years, we have helped thousands, literally thousands of activewear brands go from just an idea to physical product.
So I've learned a thing or two about what products to order and which sizes and what sizing breakdown to have.
So whether you're a new brand or an existing brand, this is going to be a great episode.
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Dead stock is product that you have tied up, that's cash in your inventory that you cannot use because that's product you do not sell.
And you have this dead stock, not because the design was bad or because you launched it at the wrong time or the wrong price, but because you picked the wrong sizes.
You actually had the right sizes for a specific quantity of the product, but the wrong sizes for a specific other quantity of that same product.
So you sold through the size small, the size medium, maybe even the size large quickly, but you ordered too much of the XL, the XXL.
This is a problem that a lot of brands face, and this is a killer of brands, both small and large.
So how can you as a startup brand or an existing brand learn how to pick the right sizing range and specifications to match the type of customer, the type of market, and the type of product? Because most customers look at inventory as I have 100 pieces, so I'll split up that 100 pieces evenly across all my products.
And although on the surface that might feel safe and predictable, the question shouldn't be how many units should I order of that product? It's how should I split up my sizing? So that I'm not left with any that stock across any of the sizes and how should those units be split up across the sizes? So that way it matches the customer's taste as well as the product intention, because different products with different intentions have different outcomes and they affect the way sizing works.
So if you're interested in terms of how you should split up your sizes so that you're never left without an unsold size and you're not victim to debt stock, then this is going to be the episode for you.
I am the co-founder of the world's first sportswear design agency where we take ideas and turn them into physical products in literally under 30 days.
And over the last 10 years, we have helped thousands, literally thousands of activewear brands go from just an idea to physical product.
So I've learned a thing or two about what products to order and which sizes and what sizing breakdown to have.
So whether you're a new brand or an existing brand, this is going to be a great episode.
