It is an interesting one, of which I have seen both sides, from big corporate chains to small individual / independent shops.
Both have their ups and downs, but getting it right is often a much more difficult job than what people might think.
If we are talking big corporate shops, it is often the very specific role of a buyer to try to get in the most product for the lowest price, often almost taking some distributors to the cleaners, but with such a huge budget and massive buying power, they can afford to be quite nasty to the companies who want to get their product in such stores.
They will usually stock anything that is deemed to be the next big thing, or brands that have made it big, or have significant backing, more than smaller brands that may not have decent margins or enough stock to fill minimum order requirements, or anything that is a bit of a chance, although I have seen some curious purchases over the years from some buyers.
For the more independent shops, including single or multiple store options, often a much more skate orientated culture exists within the shop, usually with skaters working there, so there is a much better understanding of what brands and products are relevant to people in and around the local skate scenes, so in turn whoever is buying product for the shop will have a good grasp on what to get in, what works, what sells, what not to get in, etc.
When it comes to small single operators, it is often more so what they like, be it brands or certain tastes or looks, so can be very much more specific things, not necessarily the top brands, or even what the local people want, if they can get it. Buying power is minimal so unless they have good relationships with distributors, they can easily miss out on the best deals or not make minimum order requirements, which means they can miss out on new stock drops.
The brands of product and amount of stock is dependent on both the shop having funds to buy, as well as a relationship with the distributor, along with the distributor actually having the stock too. Might not seem too bad now with minimal shortages, but this time last year there were shops with almost none of the core staples and big brands that had no stock out there at all.
If the shop does not have an account with a distributor (for whatever reason) they will not be able to get any of those brands through the regular channels, but still might be able to get certain brands from a small mid level distributor, which I have seen happen, which then caused more issues for the shop and not something that needs any more detail here.
Lastly Reps can do a really good job in helping shops get what they need, but they can also do the opposite, sometimes talking shop owners into buying a whole lot of product that might not be at all good for the shop or area, as I had seen with one particular rep and a few local shops, so it always pays to do enough research and get the full picture.
The way I see it, from running a small shop for a period of time, my plan is to always be able to afford enough of the basics, the staples, what is a regular product you should have all day every day, but then to put aside some funds and also get a bit here and there of other more obscure brands or product that are more risky or a bit more out there, which may or may not sell. I am not talking the weird and the wacky brands or products, but just not the sort of thing I would normally get in.
I would also keep an eye on whatever was on sale from distributors, as well as buy to take advantage of any offers that distributors had, eg percentage discounts for certain numbers of product, or offers like buy ten decks get one free. Having prebooks (orders that you can choose product from up to six months in advance) can be good, but can also be tricky to plan for, but sometimes it is the only way to get new stock as some distributors will only bring in pre book product for certain drops. At least you don't have to pay for the product until it arrives, but always making sure you have never left yourself short of funds is a big issue with this sort of thing.
I think that is about it for now, but as a shop person, I feel like it is poor form to ever run out of things like grip tape, deck bolts, bushings, pivot cups, nuts, washers, and standard sizes of wheels, raw trucks and decks. With the issues and shortages during the pandemic, there were some things that couldn't be helped and many big brands were out of stock almost everywhere, so that is a different situation, but when some places constantly run out of stock before they have ordered more, it really leaves a lot to be desired and can have significant impacts on business, losing customers and all that sort of thing.
Sorry for taking up too much space and time, if you didn't find that helpful. A few lines turned into a whole lot more than I had initially planned to write, so with that, I will stop and hit Post.