“I’m so sorry, it looks like we don’t have this in stock. Can we back order it for you?”
Those are words no customer likes hearing and words that no associate wants to say! In retail, an out-of-stock event, also known as an OOS, can mean customer dissatisfaction. And today, most customers won’t wait for something to become available, because it’s almost always easier to just look for the same (or next best) thing online on Amazon or another retailer’s store.
In fact, these out-of-stock events can cost retailers 1 trillion dollars a year. And yet, the causes are fairly easy to remedy.
Here are three main causes of out-of-stock events:
- Lack of location tracking
- Lack of quantity tracking
- Shrinkage
Using these same RFID tags, inventory quantities are visible in real time, changing when a product is bought at checkout or leaves the store (due to theft). Item counts that aren’t updated in real time can’t be accurate. Without accurate inventory quantities available stock, an out-of-stock status can be assumed even when a product is in stock but not in its proper location.
Checking retail items in and out of a storeroom lets a central system display how many of each item is in stock at the moment.
Shrinkage is due to both loss and theft. With an RFID tagging system in place as part of an EAM system, shrinkage can be seriously reduced.
Sources:
https://www.retaildive.com/news/out-of-stocks-could-be-costing-retailers-1t/526327/
