BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - July 8, 2010) - Between May and June 2010, Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (
According to the Aberdeen Group report, Inventory Visibility, Tracking, and Traceability: Meeting Customer Expectations on the Store Shelf, the foremost inventory-related pressure (selected by 41% of responding retailers as their top pressure) is "lost sales opportunities emanating from out-of-stock inventory" in stores and channels.
During a revival phase in the retail industry, the out-of-stock pressure is a deeply troubling sign when one considers that the next two pressures are related to "high inventory holding costs" and "excessive inventory in channels and warehouses."
As a response to the business pressures related to topline sales and customer satisfaction losses associated with out-of-stocks, leading retailers are focusing on raising the bar in customer-focused areas. Best-in-Class are implementing a comprehensive inventory optimization strategy that takes into account shelf or item-level inventory flow that is related to customer purchase behavior. "Retailers such as Macy's, Lowe's, and Family Dollar are applying more localized and customer-driven inventory models that strive towards inventory accuracy and visibility down to the store shelf-level," says Sahir Anand, Director of the Retail Practice and Chief Author of the report.
The make-up of inventory solutions in retail needs to be looked at from two lenses. Firstly, there are systems that are primary to shelf-level inventory planning and execution. Inventory forecasting, order management systems, consumer-driven replenishment, and reporting tools are the primary systems/tools that are directly related to the core inventory functions such as forecasting, planning, demand-driven replenishment, inventory data analysis and reporting.
Secondly, associated collaborative approaches for shelf-level inventory optimization include vendor managed inventory (VMI) and collaborative planning forecasting replenishment system (CPFR), and radio frequency identification (RFID)-based approaches. All these approaches are focused on inventory accuracy, visibility, and better supply chain integration.
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