The Seamless aged inventory working group wrapped last month after considering planning, sourcing practices and methodologies to reduce clothing overproduction. Here are the key insights and requirements they identified for our industry.
In Australia in 2024, it is estimated that 47 million new items of clothing, which is equivalent to 11,700 tonnes, were not sold. That’s a 17% increase from 2023 and it highlights the need for practical solutions that address overproduction, inventory management, and internal accountability.
Industry wide collaboration for an industry wide challenge
The Seamless aged inventory working group met for the first time in May 2025 to understand why aged inventory occurs, map current pathways for managing unsold stock and identify practical intervention points. It brought together JAG, Lorna Jane, THE ICONIC and Universal Store, with supply chain experts Avery Dennison, industry experts A Fitting Connection, charitable organisations Thread Together and Salvos, and researchers from RMIT University and UTS.
Key insights from the working group
The group highlighted three key insights for aged clothing inventory:
Insight 1: As growth-focused business models reward volume over efficiency, there’s a need to shift the mindset so that producing fewer items and therefore driving cost efficiencies and higher margins is an important measure of success.
Insight 2: Most clothing brands have no single team accountable for aged inventory and they lack the feedback loops to learn from data on unsold stock. Addressing both of these insights at the organisational level has the potential to make a significant impact.
Insight 3: High minimum order quantities for clothing force over-ordering, however clothing brands have the opportunity to collaborate on shared orders and reduce waste, while also working with suppliers to overcome this challenge.
Critical industry requirements
The working group identified three requirements that emerged consistently across their discussions. Each represents a barrier that has prevented effective aged inventory management for clothing.
1. A clear and common understanding of aged inventory
In the clothing industry, aged inventory may also be known as unsold stock, dead stock, excess or obsolete inventory and pre-consumer waste. It may also include damaged stock, returned stock and samples.
To provide much needed clarity, the group developed a shared definition of aged inventory that resonated across a range of business models and highlighted the key challenges. This definition is:
Aged inventory refers to stock that has remained unsold for an extended period beyond its expected or optimal selling timeframe. It typically indicates items that have not been purchased within the standard sales cycle and may require discounting, redistribution, or other interventions to manage storage costs, reduce waste, or free up space.
2. Visibility on what causes aged inventory
Supply chain and product lifecycle mapping helped the working group to identify exactly where aged inventory builds up, and how and why this happens.
The mapping revealed that aged inventory accumulates at multiple touchpoints throughout the product lifecycle:
Planning stage: Forecasting challenges and lack of real-time data integration lead to volume miscalculations from the outset.
Production stage: Minimum order quantities required by suppliers force brands into higher volume commitments than demand requires.
Retail and distribution: Seasonal buying cycles and promotional expectations create pressure to over-order, while limited feedback loops prevent learnings from sales being passed back to those who forecast volumes.
Post-season: Current practices like heavy discounting and donations obscure the true costs of aged inventory, making it difficult to identify intervention opportunities.
Importantly, the mapping identified opportunities for intervention before aged inventory becomes an issue. They include opportunities for smarter forecasting tools and collaborative ordering approaches, through to establishing internal feedback loops to prevent aged inventory.
3. Practical tools that are easy to use
Clothing brands need practical tools to help them understand the true cost of unsold stock to their business. This needs to extend beyond storage costs to the impacts on cash flow, margins, and sustainability goals.
What’s next
A key outcome of the working group is that Seamless will work with the industry to develop an aged inventory calculator to help clothing brands understand the true cost of unsold stock to their business.
Seamless is also implementing additional reporting requirements for member brands to help measure and track aged inventory so that we have a baseline against which to measure progress.
Our sincere thanks to the Seamless members and supporters who generously provided their time, insights and experience: A Fitting Connection, Avery Dennison, JAG, Lorna Jane, RMIT University, Salvos Stores, THE ICONIC, Thread Together, Universal Store and UTS.
