Retailers unanimously agree that system and channel-wide inventory visibility is key to their success and their ability to serve customers adequately. However, comparatively few retailers actually have the solutions in place that grant them this system-wide visibility, and even fewer are actively synchronizing inventory across all of their different channels. This impacts their ability to execute and can result in operational failures, missed sales and angry customers.

Everything from visibility to the ability to fulfill orders is compromised as a result, and some retailers estimate they can only tell how much inventory they have in store with 60 to 90 percent accuracy. That’s a long way off from the mark they need to hit if they want to serve their customers in a satisfactory manner.

If retailers want to live up to their end of the bargain, it starts with implementing the right solutions to enhance visibility throughout all the channels and supply chains and improve collaboration as well. This allows merchants to improve their execution of omnichannel order fulfillment and inventory management, enabling retailers to serve their customers no matter where or when they want to shop. Greater inventory visibility across channels translates into more efficiency from the operations end of things, and from there, retailers can pass down the benefits to the customer.

For more information about how better system-wide inventory visibility can promote a better shopping experience and improve operations, check out this SalesWarp infographic on the matter.