The launch of IJ Talks at PRET by Couture India marked a shift in the way jewellery trade events approach knowledge sharing. Instead of wide-angle industry overviews, this session drilled down into operational challenges — and how to solve them with rigour and data.

Prabhakar Mahadevan and Rajagopalan J, partners at Strategy and Systems Consulting, have worked with retail majors like Tanishq and Malabar Gold and Diamonds. Drawing from their book Demystifying Retail, the duo showed how retailers can boost profitability by identifying what sells fast, phasing out what doesn’t, and using that data to restock smarter.

The Stock Curve: Fast, Slow, and Everything in Between

At the heart of their approach is inventory classification using a time-based curve:

·       Head: Fast-moving items (sold in under 60 days for plain gold or 120 for diamond)

·       Belly: Moderate movement (60–180 days)

·       Tail: Slower (180–270 days)

·       Non-Moving: Over 270 days

“We find that the top 30% of fast-moving inventory contributes to 40% of sales. But many retailers don't even track this segment separately,” said Mahadevan. “You need to hold on to your winners and replace them as soon as they're sold. Otherwise, you’re unknowingly funding your tail and non-moving stock with the profit you could have earned.”

Five Rules Every Retailer Can Use

1)     Protect and Replace Fast Movers

When a design flies off the shelves, it signals a winning formula. The smart move is to protect that design category and replace it instantly. Retailers must treat their top performers like golden geese – the idea is to decode the elements that made it work and reintroduce a close variation promptly.

“If a fast-moving design sells, we ask: why hasn’t it come back into inventory?” said Rajagopalan. “Don’t let that SKU go when it's ‘done well.’ Identify what made it work — price point, design, weight — and reintroduce a close match immediately.”

2)     Use a 2x2 Planogram to Guide Buying

The consultants recommend using a planogram – a simple visual grid – with stock turn on one axis and sales value on the other. This, they explain, would help retailers make smarter buying decisions by mapping products based on how fast they sell and how much revenue they bring in

“High-turn, high-value items? Keep those. Low-turn, low-value ones? Reconsider,” said Rajagopalan. “This is how you take emotion out of inventory and let data speak.”

3)     Replenish Intelligently with Design Banking

“Don’t let the vendor’s push drive your inventory,” cautioned Prabhakar, warning that this approach often leads to overstocking, duplication, and a mismatch between what’s supplied and what actually sells. Instead, the consultants advocate for building a curated repository of winning styles tailored to the retailer’s own data.

“Build a design bank rooted in your own data — a library of designs that match your store’s unique success formula,” said Prabhakar, pointing out that by analysing what consistently performs — whether it’s a particular setting, motif, price band, or karat weight — retailers can create a smart blueprint for replenishment. “This bank becomes the go-to source when restocking or launching collections – this ensures that every piece added to inventory has proven potential.”

4)     Monitor Tail Inventory with a 90-Day Plan

Tail inventory — pieces that have been in the store for 180 to 270 days — often lurks under the radar, quietly draining working capital. These are not yet old enough to be written off, but they aren’t moving either, and ignoring them leads to bloated inventory costs. The consultants recommend assigning a 90-day decision window to this category, during which retailers must take action. Whether that means promoting the item with urgency, melting it for reuse, rotating it to another store location, or creatively reworking it, the key is to avoid inertia.

“Items in the 180–270 day range need active decisions,” said Rajagopalan. “This is where most working capital gets stuck. Promote it, melt it, rotate it or rework it — but don’t ignore it,” he said.

5)     Set Boundaries for Seasonal Stock

Seasonal buys — whether for Diwali, Akshaya Tritiya, or the wedding season — often fall prey to over-ordering, leading to unsold remnants clogging up inventory for months, sometimes years. Retailers may assume that because such stock is ‘in demand’ during the festive period, it deserves a longer rope. But the consultants caution against this mindset. Set firm rules for how much seasonal inventory you’ll buy, by category and sub-category, and how long you’ll keep it post-season before marking it down or moving it out.

“Festive or bridal inventory doesn’t mean carte blanche,” added Prabhakar. “Set clear limits on quantity, sub-category, and shelf life. If you don’t decide when it should exit, it’ll stay forever.”

Retailer Input and Custom Strategy

The consultants acknowledged that not all stock decisions can be led by velocity when Ganesh Narayan Cotha of C. Krishniah Chetty & Co. raised a relevant point about high-value statement pieces.

“Jewellers often carry select pieces that aren’t meant to turn fast,” said Ganesh Narayan, making an important point. “They’re part of the brand’s positioning, not just the sales pipeline.”

While smart stock rotation keeps the business lean and profitable, the presence of iconic designs — be it a prized solitaire, a one-off Polki creation, or a heritage piece — anchors the brand’s identity. These are not fast movers, nor are they meant to be. But their value lies in how they influence perception, bring customers in, and give the brand its aspirational edge.

Prabhakar acknowledged the need for such stock, too. “What we’re offering is a toolkit for operational stock, not your showpieces or iconic designs,” he clarified. “This is for the core of your working inventory — the 70–80% that drives day-to-day performance.”

Bringing Data and Discipline Together

What sets this framework apart is that it's already being implemented through a proprietary software tool the consultants have developed. “It’s not just theory,” said Rajagopalan. “Our platform helps you segment stock, track turn, and make buying and liquidation decisions with precision.”

“Every retailer knows their sales. Few track their stock turn,” added Prabhakar. “And that’s the missing metric. Start there — that’s your first unlock.”