What is stock?

• A. A term used for all professional and retail products purchased on a regular basis and stored by the business in a secure room or cupboard
• B. A cash register balance
• C. The equipment used in treatments
• D. The ingredients used in products

Answer: (A)

Stock refers to the inventory a business keeps on hand to supply clients and run day-to-day operations. In a beauty business, this means the professional products used in treatments and the retail products sold to clients, all of which are purchased regularly and stored in a secure room or cupboard to prevent loss or spoilage. This aligns with how stock is managed—maintaining enough on hand to meet demand and protect goods.

The other options describe different concepts: a cash register balance is money in the till, not inventory; the equipment used in treatments are tools and assets, not stock; and the ingredients used in products are raw materials, which aren’t typically referred to as stock in the same sense as finished or resaleable items.