The handset that lost money while sitting still

Most retail categories lose value slowly or not at all. Handsets do not. A model bought at the right price becomes overpriced the day the manufacturer revises, and the shop discovers this when a customer quotes a lower price from elsewhere.

What the shop can and cannot control

It cannot control the revision. It can control how many units are exposed to it, which is a function of how much was bought and how fast the line moves.

That makes rate of sale the number that matters, and it is rarely the number being used. Purchasing tends to follow the scheme on offer from the distributor rather than the movement history of the specific model.

The report that changes the decision

Not a stock list. Units on hand, with age, per model, alongside how many sold in the last thirty days. Two models with four units each are in completely different positions if one sells weekly and the other has not moved since it arrived.

Acting earlier is the whole benefit

A slow model identified at week three can be cleared at a small discount. The same model identified at week ten is cleared at a loss. Nothing about the software changes the market — it changes how early the shop sees what the market has already decided.