Benefits of Upgrading Your Enterprise Inventory Availability System

In the fast-paced world of retail and eCommerce, real-time inventory management used to be a gamechanger. Now, if you don't have it, your business could face serious challenges. It’s not just about keeping customers happy and operations smooth; it's about driving growth and profitability. Implementing real-time inventory management solutions can significantly boost your business, impacting various key performance indicators (KPIs). 

Yet, upgrading your current inventory management system is a big disruption that will need a strong business case. In working with clients, we find that many aren't looking at the full set of business and IT drivers that are in scope when you improve the quality and speed of your inventory data.

Beyond the Obvious Benefits

We all know the usual perks—better customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. But have you thought about these? 

Here are a few examples of how real-time inventory management can drive top and bottom-line improvements to your enterprise.

1. Imagine showing customers exactly where products are available right on the product page, no extra clicks needed. By displaying geo-located stock availability on PDP or through fast inventory updates, you can really ramp up BOPIS sales. Are you accounting for the margin improvement that comes with this?
2. Accurate inventory minimizes lost sales by reducing instances of customers encountering inaccurate "out-of-stock" messages and by integrating upcoming and in-transit inventory into your Available-to-Promise (ATP) calculations.
3. Many retailers shy away from using their stores for fulfillment due to inaccurate inventory. But with real-time inventory management, this potential is unlocked, boosting store capacity and reducing the need for more distribution and fulfillment centers. We are working with a retailer that has used the avoidance of spending capital on Distribution Centers (DC) as the main ROI for improved store fulfillment technology.
4. By fine-tuning your inventory replenishment based on real-time demand signals, you avoid overstocking and make better use of your storage space. This means you can offer a wider range of products without unnecessary costs.
5. Becoming an omnichannel retailer isn’t just about having a website and physical stores. It’s also about tapping into third-party marketplaces and leveraging their reach, distribution, and marketing muscle. These platforms thrive on variety and reliability, so sharing accurate inventory data with them not only boosts your sales but also makes you a preferred partner.
6. Real-time data means you can cut back on safety stock, freeing up working capital.
7. Order throughput goes up because there is less node bouncing that occurs with fill rate issues.
8. Accurate store inventory means fewer split shipments, which helps lower shipping costs.
9. For the IT team, a unified real-time inventory view cuts down on infrastructure costs since you don’t need to store multiple copies of inventory data. Fewer data copies mean less testing and QA work. Plus, configurability lowers programming efforts.  
   
   

The benefits of real-time inventory management extend far beyond what's covered above. Want to learn more? Dive deeper into the 38 benefits of upgrading your inventory availability system.

We will help you size up the opportunities and conduct a full ROI analysis vs. your current inventory solution. We are confident we can lower your TCO by 20% or more by upgrading your inventory availability capabilities.