Do you think there is more stock still in shops?

[Branbleberries]

I've been doing some online browsing, and finding that a few things that I'd kind of like to order are now out of stock online. I wondered whether shops like John Lewis or even smaller shops like Fat Face or Mint Velvet or whatever would have lots of stock still hanging around in the shops, waiting til they open again, and then it will either be available in store, or it will be sent back to the warehouse to make room for new season stuff, and thus will be available online again.

Anyone work for any of these types of shops and know where all the stock is now located?

Anything that can be online will be
Store stock is small
Majority stock will Have been cancelled or recut into different shapes for next season, to be rolled to next year if it’s owned or will have been cancelled at factory (see massive issues ethically)
For this reason I shan’t shop at Arcadia gap new look primark and many more again

yes, I totally get you about stock being cancelled before it's produced/arrived.

I was thinking more about current season stuff, things already in the shops when they were locked down, and that are also available online (e.g., John Lewis usually has separate stock for online and what is in the shops, and what is sold out in one place doesn't mean it's not in any of the shops). Except of course right now, it obviously can't be bought in the shops. So if it's out of stock online, I was kind of hoping it might be sitting there on an empty shop floor, and would suddenly go back online once it all got sent back as the shops open and start preparing for newer stock.

This doesn’t answer your question (sorry) but I read that there won’t really now be any new stuff until autumn things start trickling in, usually end of August.

Concession stock would stay with the retailer, ie mint velvet in John Lewis. Brands are moving stock to feed online so if it’s out of stock they don’t have it, but yes, a concession might. Although I would say JL will also be pulling stock for online orders so if it’s out of stock on the JL website I doubt very much it’ll be in the store on opening.

Retailers will be fuelling online as much as they can with stock from across all their channels.

WingingWonder Primark didn't cancel as many orders as the so called more ethical brands. They also dealt more fairly by paying wages to those factories.

Some of the poshest brands have dealt with the factories atrociously.

Flirty girl- I work in industry, well aware of practises by so called premium brands.
Primark have one of highest cancellation book of UK high st though.

@WingingWonder Do you know how good/evil the H&M group have been? Don't care much about H&M itself but if I have to boycott Arket & Cos I might never buy clothes again except in the Toast sale

When I say "don't care" I obviously do care, just meant I don't buy much at actual H&M!

H&M have lead, and paid in full from outset

I was listening to an interview with Nick Broen who owns Brown’s in the N/NE of England (high end depot stores£. He sats they had about £3M worth of spring fashion stock delivered 10days-week before lockdown, which is still in store.

I'm really intrigued by the ops question and wonder what will still be instore. There's been no movement in the big stores here as fad as i can tell. I do find it sad that some of our smaller shops have easter stuff in the window dtill. Bunny ears etc :(

I used to be a store allocator. In somewhere like a department store, I imagine the store staff would have packed up all they could before closure and prioritised "spring" stock (long sleeved midi dresses for example). I think a lot of summer stock will be sitting in store as staff were furloughed, so there hasn't been anyone there to transfer anything since March. A friend in retail was only allowed back in her shopping centre on Monday.

If I were working I'd be doing something like a 70 30 split, 70% to go back to online.

Yes same here - small shops with Easter displays, etc. Some of the bigger shops have now put paper or wood up across the windows, and really big places like John Lewis have taken all the window displays down. But in several small shops you can see through the door that there is still some stuff hanging there. I don't know about in the bigger shops though. It's quite eerie walking through town really, a bit like it's been frozen in time. I assumed managers still have access to the shops and the stock, and the head offices would at some point have wanted it sent back to be sold online, but some do seem to have it still in the shop. They're not going to want to keep selling all of it once the shops open, as they'll want high summer clothes, new things that people haven't seen online, etc, to tempt people back, I'd guess. Maybe some of it will still be available though.

Someone has been and cleared our Monsoon shop, but I suspect that's because of their troubles. I don't think it will reopen.

branbleberries I had to go in and pick up a repeat prescription from Boots back in April - it was SO creepy, with all the restaurants and bars boarded up, and the shops with windows full of things no-one could buy. I walked past Oliver Bonas and felt so sorry for all the dresses.

When I got home I rang the GP surgery and asked if my repeats could go to the little local pharmacy instead. (Boots closer to my work.)

Our M&S is open. I was looking for some pyjamas for DD online, virtually all sold out. I went into the shop and there they were, all sizes, all colours, loads of them! So I think it probably just depends on the shop.

@WingingWonder oh that's good news, thanks. Hooray for the Swedes!

I’ve been finding this too. Even tights in M&S are out of stock.

I doubt they are restocking at all even for online, and will try to get everything on to their websites.

Ally Cappelino (one of my favourite shops) has had no new stock online since March. Nothing.

I am worried that by the time they all open they will have their Autumn/Winter stuff in.

Really interesting thread. You'd think it would make sense to move things back to warehouses but maybe even that wasn't possible because of lockdown. I know at sale time often JL have things in-store that are sold out online. As far as I understand it having an online ordering system that includes store stock is much much more complex but potentially more efficient across the board; there aren't many shops that do it, though.

I do think there are going to be huge volumes of un-sold 'holiday' clothes - the kind of thing you never really mean to buy (loud, frilly etc) but then get carried away in the shop. Accessories, too - those are mostly impulse purchases. And of course things that people just won't need if they're not travelling.

Global stock systems (online orders that also use store stock inventory) are so hard to manage, and almost impossible on days like Black Friday. It relies on having staff members to check the system regularly, dash out and put the stock aside. It also requires almost daily collections from store, so your stock deliveries have to be direct from and to your warehouse instead of being part of a courier round.

I really don't think many stores will have kept paying managers to go in and pack/ship stock back when they could be furloughed instead. I bet it's mostly still there, and a lot of the frilly pineapple print minidresses etc never got there in the first place!

Global supply systems! That’s the term, thanks. I’m sure one of the high streets clothes shops uses it...maybe River Island? And there’s that mechanism that allows you to check stock in stores near to you, I know M+S have it-guess they must have turned it off for now.

So, a glut of sandals, sunglasses and strappy tops to come. I wonder what will happen to it all. Do stores ever pull and re-market the following year?

I’m sure I saw somewhere that Next, Debenhams and M&S were shipping stuff to warehouses to sell next year, this was the stuff that they trot out each year not the ‘fashion’ stuff

I know Next definitely take current season off the shop floor and put out stock from previous seasons in their 5am sales! I've spotted things reappear.