If you asked parents what their biggest fear is during the holiday season, many would agree: disappointing their children. One of the most common ways for this fear to manifest itself is at the retail store – parents arrive either online or in a store at the last minute, go to find the item their child wanted most this holiday season and discover it’s out of stock. It’s a nightmare come true in the eyes of many parents.

The importance of using inventory software to prevent inventory gaps

For retailers, having a gap in inventory when a consumer wants to buy an item can gravely affect revenue. As many as 89 percent of customers said that they would be likely to shop with another retailer in the future if an item were delivered late, while 73 percent would do so if they were unable to find an item they wanted to purchase during the holiday season, according to a report from Capgemini.

Merchants need to fully grasp the importance of their inventory software and how it can manage supply chains during the end of the year. However, according to 83 percent of supply chain professionals surveyed, it can be very difficult to plan for the surge of activity during the holiday season. Additionally, only 21 percent said they had the necessary inventory software in play to help them manage their inventory. So while most retailers acknowledge it’s a problem, few are equipped well enough to deal with the issue.

Two of the biggest problems noted were 1. the lack of end-to-end visibility and coordination across retail channels (observed by 84 percent of supply chain managers), and 2. little integration of inventory software across supply chains (67 percent).

As supply chains become more complex and consumers grow ever more demanding, business executives and supply chain managers are increasingly feeling the pressure to improve their operational visibility and responsiveness to market demand,” Paul Cole, senior vice president and head of consumer products and retail at Capgemini, explained in the study.

Retailers looking to prevent inventory gaps and gain transparency into supply chains and inventory should consider inventory software that allows them to oversee all of these different operations using a single system. This will help merchants quickly identify drops in inventory levels across the supply chain and leverage their suppliers in a way that maximizes their stock levels.