MBA Training Finance

Sell-through curves: pricing markdown risk early

MBA Training Finance

Show Notes

Panama Canal transit caps and Red Sea reroutes from the Iran conflict are adding 10 to 14 days per container and pushing landed costs up double digits, so fall apparel lands in October instead of August. The question is what a CFO does when the reorder and chase window has closed and the only remaining lever is price. The position here: read sell-through against a curve, not a flat weekly target, and recognize the markdown when the signal appears.

You walk away with a 15 point trailing rule at the one third mark of the selling window, a method for sizing a markdown reserve at 30 to 50 percent discount depth, guidance on holding ticket price on fashion while conceding on basics, and a view on Inditex short cycles and AI markdown tools.

0:00 Panama Canal delays hit fall inventory 0:24 How much margin the reroutes cost 1:16 Reading sell-through against the curve 2:12 Booking a markdown reserve early 3:13 Passing freight costs to customers 4:06 Monday morning action on fall styles

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