The Challenges

A large wholesaler held nearly $100M of inventory at an 18% gross margin. 

The issue wasn’t demand but stock mix and attention: slow‑moving categories quietly accumulated, while pricing focus gravitated to fresh arrivals and large stones. 

Analysts depended on manual lists and intuition to identify problem lots. Leadership sensed that overlooked items were tying up capital and suppressing GMROI but needed a system to expose the blind spots and drive consistent action.

The Solution

Pricing Co‑Pilot was deployed to pinpoint inventory that was both competitively mis‑ranked and aging. 

→ The Pricing module highlighted SKUs priced off‑market versus comparable listings.
→ Stock Performance tagged lots exceeding aging thresholds by shape × carat, and surfaced categories where a small markdown could speed clearance.
→ Market Performance quantified overhang and trendlines to time markdowns and promotions.
→ A weekly cross‑functional huddle aligned pricing, sales, and finance on actions: markdown bands, target weeks‑on‑hand, and a “Top 50 unlock” list.

In six months, targeted actions on <15% of inventory produced ~$1.18M incremental margin. Clearance cadence reduced overhang by ~12% without a broad race‑to‑the‑bottom; margin dollars grew as capital recycled faster into winners.

Sales teams focused on the top 20% categories that contributed ~80% of incremental margin. Leadership now treats unlocks as an ongoing program rather than a one‑off.