What would you do if your warehouse ran out of stock? What would you do if your warehouse ran out of stock? It is critical to prevent stock outs. It’s simpler to say than to do. The amount of inventory you require at any given time is determined by an elegant dance between supply chain management and demand forecasting. You could make a mistake and end up with too much inventory, or even worse, not enough.
How much does it cost to run out of stock? Inventory volatility has a definite impact on forecasting, in addition to having an adverse effect on profitability and customer satisfaction. Make sure you’re monitoring the vital metrics to keep tabs on the condition of your inventory. Process simplification can free up time for in-depth examination of your company’s operations.
It’s not the end of the world if you run out of stock. Stock outs can be handled in a number of ways, and there are numerous ways to avoid them altogether. You can immediately take these steps to ameliorate your situation.

• Being clear and honest with information is one of the most crucial things a retailer can do to lessen frustration and ease confusion. This includes making sure the OOS message is visible and, if it’s possible, enabling stock level filtering or sorting for website visitors. It can also be helpful to indicate the stock’s status by saying that it is “running low” or that you only have a certain amount in stock.
• If you are short stocks for reasons that are out of your control, try to justify your position. By doing this, you can maintain brand loyalty while fostering open communication with customers. Inform the customer of the return window for a product.
• When an item is restocked, notify a customer. You can accomplish this by signing up for email notifications of back-in-stock. If this functionality is missing from your website, there are numerous add-on options on the market.
• Check your supply chain to see if there are any spare parts or returned stock that can be made into a saleable product. These can be added to the manufacturing process to be improved.
• Consider sharing alternate channel inventory if you have multiple sales channels. Brands with a significant retail presence will find this to be especially helpful. If you haven’t already, try moving inventory to your ecommerce fulfilment center to meet demand in the event of store closures.
• Cross-sell with alternative, similar products. By displaying a variety of products that can satisfy the same demand, you may even discover that you can increase the value of each cart.
• Another choice is to permit pre-ordering or pre-selling, though this is occasionally less preferred due to logistical or organisational difficulties. Just make sure to depict the timeline clearly; otherwise, customers might become irate. Consider communicating an anticipated delivery week based on your receipts rather than a “in stock date.”
• When you don’t want pent-up demand, visual merchandising can be used as a tool to counteract confusion and disappointment from OOS. Make sure the product is not prominently displayed on your website or other marketing materials if you anticipate having a long period of time without inventory. Think about putting it somewhere else at the bottom of a page or list.
• Suppliers might be willing and able to prioritise some of your purchase orders so they can complete OOS goods before others. However, be mindful of any risks it may pose to other receipts.