Is Media Buying Getting Replaced by Demand Planning?

Welcome to the Ecom Scaling Show, brought to you by Free To Grow CFO and Aplo Group! Join hosts Jon Blair (Founder, Free To Grow CFO) and Dylan Byers (Co-founder, Aplo Group) as they break down how inventory planning directly impacts cash flow, profitability, and the ability to scale a DTC brand.

In Episode 35, Jon and Dylan walk through how inventory planning actually works for growing e-commerce brands and why it is one of the biggest hidden constraints on cash flow and growth. Rather than treating inventory as a pure operations problem, this episode reframes it as a financial decision that must be aligned with marketing performance and margin structure.

They explain how to forecast demand realistically, how paid media and growth rate influence inventory risk, and why both overbuying and underbuying create costly downstream problems. This episode provides a practical, CFO level framework for planning inventory in a way that supports sustainable growth instead of slowing it down.

Timestamps:
00:00 Why inventory planning is one of the biggest growth constraints
02:10 Common inventory mistakes growing DTC brands make
04:45 Inventory as a cash flow and finance problem
07:20 Forecasting demand without overengineering models
10:05 How growth rate and marketing volatility impact inventory
12:50 Lead times, reorder points, and safety stock fundamentals
15:40 The real cost of stockouts vs excess inventory
18:30 Planning inventory for hero SKUs vs secondary products
21:20 How contribution margin should guide inventory decisions
24:10 Inventory risk at different stages of scale
26:45 When it makes sense to intentionally take inventory risk
29:30 Pressure testing inventory plans before committing cash
32:20 Inventory planning mistakes that stall otherwise healthy brands
34:50 Final inventory principles for sustainable scaling

Free To Grow CFO: https://freetogrowcfo.com/
Aplo Group: https://www.aplogroup.com/
Jon Blair on LinkedIn: /jonathon-albert-blair
Dylan Byers on LinkedIn: /dylan-byers-046010149

#ecommerce #dtc #finance #agency #podcast #shopify #ads #scalingyourbrand #demandplanning #inventory #shopifyplus