What to Do Before Adding a New Product (or More Stock) to Your Small Business

Do you ever add shiny new products to your shop or website without a real plan? Be honest, have you ever spotted something you loved, so thought your customers would love it too, and ordered it on the spot?

If that sounds familiar, you’re definitely not alone.

I’m Katie, a stock and profit specialist (with almost 20 years in retail) and the founder of my own small business, Skudaboo, where I sell art prints and homeware.

Even with all my experience as a merchandiser for big retailers,  where my job literally revolved around managing stock, I still fell into the same trap so many small business owners do: believing that launching new products would magically attract new customers and my sales would skyrocket.

Case in point? I once added mugs to my art print business because I thought they were cute and would expand my homeware range.
Did I have enough traffic to justify them? Nope.
Were customers asking for them? Also nope.
Did I buy them anyway because I thought they were cute? Absolutely yes.

The result? Twenty perfectly lovely mugs that took me over a year to sell, and a firm reminder that strategy beats “shiny new product syndrome” every time.

There was nothing wrong with the mugs; I just didn’t have the traffic (or audience appetite) to back them up.

The truth is, without a plan, new products can quietly eat up your cash, fill your storage shelves, and distract you from what’s already working.

So before you add anything new to your range, here’s what to check:

1. Do Your Sales Really Justify Adding Another Product?

If you sell 100 units a week but stock 400 products, on average you’re only selling 0.25 of each product per week.

For high-value items like furniture, slower turnover might make sense. But for most small businesses, it usually means your cash is tied up in products that aren’t moving.

Ask yourself:

• Which products are selling quickly?
• Which ones are just sitting there, gathering dust?

If your range is already packed and sales don’t justify adding more, a new product will only add noise — and confuse your customers. Instead, focus on marketing, improving visibility, and giving your existing products space to shine.

Now’s also a good time to check your stock cover — that’s the number of weeks or months your current stock could last based on your average sales.

For example, if you have enough stock to cover six months of sales, adding more could quickly turn into a stock (and cash flow) nightmare. It means your money is sitting on shelves instead of working for you.

So before investing in anything new, clear through slow sellers, discontinue what’s not working, and free up that cash to spend on products that actually sell.

And if something’s been sitting around for months, try turning it back into cash with creative offers, think bundles, giveaways, or limited-time discounts, before you bring anything new in. (I wrote a whole blog on when to discontinue products here.)

2. Do You Have Enough Website Traffic That Actually Converts?

Before you invest in a new product, take a moment to look at your traffic. Do you actually have enough people visiting your site to support new products, or would your time and money be better spent boosting visibility first?

If your conversion rate is low, adding more products won’t fix the problem. In fact, it could make things worse by giving customers too much choice and making it harder for them to decide.

💡 Tip: Open your Shopify Analytics and check your sessions and conversion rate. You might discover that your shop doesn’t need newness, it needs more eyes on what you already have. (I’ve written more about how to track these numbers on Shopify in my metrics blog here.)

3. New vs Returning Customers: What That Means for Your Product Strategy

Before you plan your next launch, take a look at who’s actually buying from you.

If most of your customers are new, remember that every single product in your shop is already “new” to them. In that case, you don’t necessarily need to keep adding more, focus on getting eyes on your existing range instead.

If you have a higher percentage of returning customers, a bit of newness can help keep things fresh. But that doesn’t mean you need 10 new launches a month! Sometimes, your loyal customers just haven’t discovered everything you already sell, a reminder email, new photos, or a simple restyle can often do the trick.

💡 Tip: Check Shopify’s New vs Returning Customers report in Analytics to see where you stand and what that means for your product strategy.

4. Avoid Product Overlap: Is Your New Product Competing With an Old One?

Before you hit order, make sure your new product isn’t just competing with something you already sell.

For example: if your bestseller is a black midi dress and you add another black midi dress, you could end up splitting sales between the two, meaning both sell slower.

If it’s a “move-on” product (a new or improved version of something existing), make sure you’ve sold through your old stock first or at least have a plan to phase it out. Otherwise, you’ll likely end up discounting the old version heavily just to clear it.

💡 Tip: Think of your range like a team, every product should have a unique role. If two are fighting for the same position, one’s always going to end up on the sidelines.

5. What Is Your Search Data Telling You?

Before you invest in stock, take a quick look at what people are actually searching for.
It’s one of the simplest ways to make sure there’s real demand for your idea, not just a hunch.

Ask yourself:

• Are potential customers already looking for this product?
• What competitors show up when you Google it?
• Is there a genuine gap in the market you could fill?

Example: In my own business, Skudaboo, I noticed people were finding my site by searching for “picture mounts”, because I mentioned them in product descriptions as styling suggestions. But I didn’t actually sell them! That showed me clear demand, so instead of designing more art prints, I focused on adding picture mounts to my shop instead.

💡 Tip: Use Google Search Console or Google Trends to spot what customers are searching for, what keywords lead to your site, and what’s missing from your current range. Sometimes the best new product ideas are hiding in your search data.

6. Minimum Order Quantities

Some suppliers have minimum order quantities, for example, you might have to buy 24 units at a time. But if your current sales suggest you’d only sell one a week, that’s almost six months of stock sitting around.

Instead of committing to the stock, try to test the waters first:

• Negotiate smaller order quantities where possible.
• Run pre-orders or waitlists to see if people are genuinely interested.
• Offer made-to-order if your product type allows it.

This way, you can validate demand before you commit, protect your cash flow, and avoid boxes of unsold stock taking over your office.

💡 Tip: If customers do join a waitlist or pre-order, that’s a strong sign you’re onto something, and it can even help you fund your first buy upfront.

7. Seasonal & Trend Timing: Is Now the Right Time to Launch?

Timing can make or break a product launch.

Ask yourself — is this product right for the season, or will you be stuck with Christmas jumpers in January (we’ve all been there )?

Trends can be even trickier. Jump on too early and customers aren’t ready yet, but jump on too late and your product can feel outdated before it’s even launched.

💡 Tip: Use Google Trends, Pinterest Trends, or even a scroll through social media to see if interest is rising or falling before you commit. A little research now can save you a lot of leftover stock later.

8. Price Point & Profit Margins: Will It Actually Make You Money?

Before you fall in love with a new product idea, check where it fits within your existing price range.

If most of your products sell for £20–£30, suddenly introducing a £75 item might feel like too much of a leap for your audience, especially if they don’t see your brand as a “premium purchase” yet.

And don’t forget to run the numbers. If the profit per unit is tiny, the effort involved,  from photographing and packaging to storing and shipping, might not be worth it compared to products with better margins.

9. Supplier Reliability: Can You Count on Your Supply Chain?

Even the best product idea can flop if your supplier doesn’t deliver... literally.

Before you commit, make sure you’re working with someone dependable. Ask yourself:

• Can they deliver consistently and on time?
• Are their lead times realistic for your business?
• Is their quality consistent from batch to batch?

Because no matter how beautiful the product is, if you can’t keep it in stock, customers will lose trust fast and that’s much harder to win back than a few late deliveries.

💡 Tip: Build strong relationships with your suppliers. Good communication (and paying on time!) can go a long way when you need flexibility later.

10. Storage & Logistics: Can You Actually Handle More Stock?

It’s not the most glamorous part of product planning, but it’s an important one, where is this new product actually going to live and how will you send it?

If you’ve only sold small, postbox-friendly products before, suddenly adding large or fragile items can be a real headache. Think higher packaging costs, more complicated shipping, and possibly needing extra space at home or in storage.

Before You Fall for the Next Shiny Product…

Adding new products is exciting, it’s the fun bit of running a small business. But it’s also the fastest way to watch your money disappear if you’re not careful.

So, before you order 100 pastel water bottles just because they’re trending on TikTok, pause and run through this checklist. Your future self (and your bank balance) will thank you.

• Review your numbers – check sales, traffic, and conversion rates to see if you really need more products.
• Understand your customers – look at new vs. returning buyers and listen to their feedback before adding newness.
  
• Check your range – avoid product overlap, make sure it fits your brand, and watch your price points and margins.
  
• Test demand first – research search trends, run pre-orders/waitlists, and consider seasonality before committing.
• Think practical – check supplier reliability, minimum order quantities, storage, and shipping logistics.

At the end of the day, it’s not about cramming your shop full of more stuff. It’s about having the right products at the right time to keep cash flowing, customers happy, and you excited about your business.

Want a second pair of eyes on your numbers before you take the plunge? I’d love to help. Let’s chat about your stock and profit.