How long stock sits before it sells, counted from the day inventory lands in your warehouse to the day a customer buys it. DIO is usually the largest component of the cash conversion cycle for a DTC brand, which makes it the biggest lever on how long your cash stays locked up. The trap is that DIO flatters you: it starts the clock at your warehouse door, ignoring the supplier deposits, 60-90 days of production and weeks of freight that came before - the cash was committed long before DIO starts counting. Shorter lead times and smaller, more frequent orders are how you pull it down.
Benchmark. Typically 60-120 days for most DTC brands. Pulling DIO down is the fastest route to a cash conversion cycle under 60 days - smaller, more frequent orders and a reactive supply chain beat big bets placed months out.