According to the National Retail Federation (NRF) US retailers lose an estimated $61.7 billion per year from shoplifting, employee or vendor theft, and administrative error. These losses average at 1.4% of retail sales but can be greater than 2% in some apparel and cosmetics categories—a huge potential loss when looking at billion dollar companies.

Retailers with clear visibility into their inventory can identify potential losses and rectify quickly, eliminating threat, cost claims and chargebacks. Fun fact: did you know that Implementing item-level tracking and an accurate inventory management system has been proven to eliminate shrinkage by up to 50% for some apparel brands?

IMPROVE YOUR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND YOUR BOTTOM LINE, BY GIVING CONSUMERS WHAT THEY WANT WHEN THEY WANT IT

Consumers see you as one brand, not separate outposts for retail and e-commerce. Figuring out what you have, where it is, how it can get into the hands of your consumers is the key to meeting today’s consumer demand and shopping preferences.

However, inventory challenges like excessive markdowns and incorrect merchandising decisions, have revealed the urgency for retailers to find ways to optimize their inventories in order to both successfully satisfy their customers expectations and continue to show profit. 

Trying to keep up with rapidly changing consumer behavior has put extra pressure on retailers to make smarter merchandising decisions. 

One study reported that multi-channel retailers have a lower tendency to sell inventory at full price, indicating the difficulties of managing inventory as retailers expand into additional channels so they can keep up with their customers. (PR Newswire)

U.S. non-grocery retailers lost $300 billion in revenues due to markdowns in 2018, equivalent to 12 percent of their total sales Inventory misjudgments are a primary markdown driver and barrier to selling at full price, accounting for more than half (53 percent) of unplanned markdown costs.

Modernizing your supply chain may seem overwhelming, but it certainly doesn’t have to be. 

Technologies have been evolving and advancing almost as quickly as your customers’ expectations, giving brands near-perfect visibility into their inventory. Furthermore, savvy brands and retailers who have taken the steps to update and improve their supply chain management processes are seeing increased customer satisfaction and, more importantly, an increase in sales/ROI. It’s all about finding the right partner who understands your industry. And if your industry happens to be retail, download this RFID vendor checklist now.