Eager to learn how your inventory is performing so you can make better decisions about further orders?
Your Inventory Insights tab helps you to understand your inventory management and sales performance so you can make informed decisions about ordering and discounting.
Inventory Insights Data Sets
There are three sets of data on your Inventory Insights tab: Recent Inventory Trends, Monthly Inventory Trends, and Other Key Metrics. We walk through these data sets on the below tabs.
| Data Set | Information Displayed | How You Can Use It |
| Cost of Goods (Total and Received) |
Displays the total cost of goods ordered and received based on your ending inventory balance. |
Monitor cost by product received. Use the light blue line to monitor the cost of products you've ordered but not received and the dark blue line to monitor products you've ordered and received. Note: Dropship products are included in the light blue line. |
| Inventory Days Outstanding (Total) | Displays the total amount of inventory outstanding based on the time frame selected. |
Track overbuying/overselling. Ideally, you want this metric to be consistent. If it increases or decreases, you may be overbuying or overselling product. Adjust your buying accordingly. Consider the following strategies to move inventory:
If your Inventory Days Outstanding decreases well below 30 days, and you are frequently selling out of items, consider buying more inventory, especially from your popular brands. Note: Adding/removing a large number of dropship products at once can inflate/deflate this metric. |
| Inventory Days Outstanding (Received) | Displays the amount of received inventory outstanding based on the time frame selected. | Track overbuying/overselling. Ideally, you want this metric to be consistent, except in times of high sales volume (for example, ahead of Black Friday and holidays). If it increases or decreases, you may be overbuying or overselling product. Adjust your buying accordingly. |
| Cost of Goods by Aging Category (Received) | Displays the cost of your received inventory by age. |
Know when to move old inventory. Ideally, you want the majority of your inventory to be between 0-30 days old. If your inventory age is increasing, reconsider your buying and/or enact more aggressive strategies to move older inventory. For example, for inventory between 60-90 days, enact aggressive selling strategies to move inventory. For inventory over 90 days old, consider donating and getting a tax write-off. Note: When you restock a product, remember to Update Product Status in CommentSold. Otherwise, the product will still show as aged inventory. |
| Cost of Goods by Aging Category % (Received) | Displays the percentage of received inventory by age. |
Monitor the age of your inventory. Ideally, you want the majority of your inventory to be between 0-30 days old. If you find your inventory age is increasing or your percentage of inventory over 30 days is increasing, you may want to reconsider your buying and/or enact more aggressive strategies to move older inventory. This chart also helps you to identify trends in inventory age. Note: When you restock a product, remember to Update Product Status in CommentSold. Otherwise, the product will continue to increase your aged inventory percentage. |
| Inventory Outstanding By Brand | Displays inventory outstanding by brand based on the ending inventory balance from the specific time frame. | Be strategic about when your order. Identify how much time you have before you need to order more of a particular brand. |
| Data Set | Information Displayed | How You Can Use It |
| Monthly Cost of Goods (Total) | Displays your monthly cost of goods total based on ending inventory balance and trailing 30-day sales. |
Track your COGS as you grow. Ideally, you want this metric to stay consistent unless you are growing your business, in which case you want a gradual upward trend. |
| Monthly Cost of Goods (Received) | Displays your monthly cost of goods received based on ending inventory balance and trailing 30-day sales. | Track your COGS as you grow. Ideally, you want this metric to stay consistent unless you are growing your business, in which case you want a gradual upward trend. |
| Inventory Days Outstanding (Total) | Displays the average age of outstanding inventory by month. |
Know when to move older inventory. Ideally, you want this metric to remain consistent. If your inventory days outstanding is increasing (i.e., your inventory is aging), consider buying wider and not as deep. Consider moving inventory using:
|
| Inventory Days Outstanding (Received) | Displays the average age of outstanding received inventory by month. |
Know when to move older inventory. Ideally, you want this metric to remain consistent. If your inventory days outstanding is increasing (i.e., your inventory is aging), consider buying wider and not as deep. Consider moving inventory using:
|
| Data Set | Information Displayed | How You Can Use It |
| Waitlist Authorized Orders | Displays the GMV generated by pre-authorized waitlist orders by week. |
Identify your restock strategy. Know which products to restock to maximize revenue and meet the demand/interest of your shoppers. |
| Currently Waitlisted Items | Displays currently waitlisted products and pre-authorized waitlist products by name, brand, size, color, cost, and price. | Make informed choices when reorder. Know what is in demand and make informed decisions about what product and/or product variants to order (and how much). |
|
Added to Waitlist Detail |
Displays the percentage of products that were waitlisted and then actually purchased in the last 90 days. | Know where to buy deeper. Use the high and low percentages to help you decide where to buy deeper. |
Access Your Inventory Insights Tab
- Select Insights in the side menu of your CommentSold dashboard.
- Select Inventory from the options listed at the top of the page.
Specify Time Frame
You can specify which time frame for which you wish to view data. Select the Snapshot Date button at the top of the tab to access your options.
- Presets. Select a time frame from a list of preset options, such as Yesterday, Last 14 Days, and Year to Date.
- Custom. Define a custom date range using a calendar picker that allows you to select a start and end date.
Once you select a time frame, select the blue update arrow in the top-right corner of the tab.
View and Export Data
You have various options when it comes to viewing and exporting your data. Please note that available options will vary by data set.
Hover Over Data Sets
Hover over graphs to view a snapshot summary of the day or time frame.
Order Data by Column
You can sort any data set column by first hovering over the column header, then selecting the desired action. You can also readjust the width of your columns by hovering over and dragging the dividing line between the column headers.
Export Data
Select the three-dot icon in the top-right corner of the data set to access your export option.
- Download data. Download a .CSV file of the data set to your device.
- Autosize all columns. Automatically resize all columns to fit the data contained displayed.
- Reset all column widths. If you have made adjustments to column widths, quickly reset to the default widths.
- View. Select Expand to launch an expanded display of the specific data set.
- Clear cache & refresh. Refresh the data set to bring in more updated data.