Title: Inventory Pattern Audit - Fast-Growing UK Fashion Brand (Unsolicited)

Summary:

Self-initiated 90-day inventory audit on a publicly visible, fast-growing Shopify fashion brand, conducted entirely from storefront and public data - no client engagement, no internal access. Four core SKUs (multiple colorways/sizes) on active restock waitlists, while the brand simultaneously ran a sitewide sale of up to 40% off.

Why it matters: A brand using genuine scarcity as a strategy does not discount the same products it's gating via waitlist the two signals contradict each other and indicate a reactive (not planned) inventory state. This pattern reliably indicates: delayed reorder timing on velocity SKUs, ad spend directed at unavailable inventory, and markdown activity used to generate cash flow rather than to clear genuinely slow stock.

Method: Velocity signal review across SKU-level availability states, cross-referenced against live promotional activity no internal tooling or data access required to detect the pattern.

Relevance to prospective clients: This is the exact class of problem I'm engaged to fix on retainer reorder timing against true demand signal, separating velocity SKUs from dead stock before promotional decisions get made on top of bad data.