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Optimising inventory management to reduce inventory losses this holiday season
Articles- Dec 16,24
Optimising inventory management is imperative for preserving profitability and fostering stakeholder trust. Emily Newton explains in detail how to go about it.
The holidays are a frantic time for the warehousing and distribution industry. Promotional purchases and gifts are in full swing and customers expect maximum stock availability with prompt deliveries. Increased operational activities also strain inventory management systems, leading to a higher risk of errors, theft, damage and other supply gap causes.
Effective logistics management is crucial to reduce inventory shrinkage and meet seasonal demand.
Unusual stressors for the industry
Holidays in 2024 have been particularly tasking for global supply chains, impacting almost every touch point. Thanksgiving was a week later this year, falling on the latest possible date in November. This dynamic meant brands had fewer days to fulfill and deliver orders.
Freight costs are also rising, driven by ongoing Red Sea attacks and labor shortages — further amplifying the financial implications of inventory losses.
Maintaining balanced inventories during the holidays
With the winter holidays approaching, the industry is set to undergo another tumultuous period. On the one hand, suppliers want to ensure they have sufficient stock to meet elevated demand and maintain customer satisfaction. Conversely, they want to avoid incurring excess storage fees or tying up capital in surplus inventory.
The heightened risks of warehouse shrinkage during peak periods make achieving this balance more complex, with rippling effects across the supply chain. Manufacturers, distributors and logistics providers may experience delays, leading to operational bottlenecks and compromised service levels. Understocking can also damage customer relationships, causing them to switch to another supplier.
The impact of imbalanced inventory levels during the busy season extends beyond financial losses, affecting the sector’s sustainability. The need to replace lost or damaged inventory contributes to overproduction and resource depletion, while disposal of unsold or spoiled goods adds to environmental burdens.
Action steps for reducing inventory loss
Optimising inventory management is imperative for preserving profitability and fostering stakeholder trust. These steps detail how to go about it.
Identify the cause: Inventory loss from theft requires a different approach to shrinkage from clerical errors. Pinpointing the root cause holds the key to accessing the right optimisation approach while minimizing further risk exposure. It involves calculating the shrinkage rate using the formula:
[(Recorded Inventory – Actual Inventory) / Recorded Inventory] x 100
Employing a quantitative measure of the loss extent provides a more accurate reflection of changes in unexplained losses over time. For example, a consistently high rate may indicate theft, whereas a sudden spike during specific periods could suggest operational inefficiencies.
Analyse historical seasonal demand patterns: Studying past holiday seasons' sales data provides insights into anticipated fluctuations and helps suppliers adjust inventory levels accordingly. This proactive approach also mitigates the risk of shrinkage due to inaccurate forecasting or inadequate stock management during peak periods.
Setting safety stock levels is equally important for providing a buffer against unexpected fluctuations in demand or supply chain disruptions. Data from the 2024 Supply Chain Confidence Survey indicate 70.9 per cent of retail leaders plan to ramp up inventory to accommodate irregular demand during peak seasons.
Optimise inventory layout: Layout optimisation for the holidays involves placing high-demand items closer to fulfillment areas to decrease handling times and minimise the risk of damage. The focus must be on organising stock based on operational workflows to reduce inventory shrinkage risks and improve overall efficiency.
Rearranging the inventory layout can also improve visibility and security. For example, strategically placing security cameras and segregating high-risk items can discourage theft while improving inventory tracking accuracy.
Using labels and QR codes to identify items and their locations remains an effective way to streamline inventory retrieval processes. It also decreases the likelihood of lost items.
Implement dynamic inventory control: Enabling automated adjustments to stock levels and records through advanced technology solutions considerably minimizes manual errors. Cloud-based warehouse management systems improved a footwear company’s inventory tracking accuracy by 70 per cent and throughput by 80 per cent.
Adopting inventory software optimises inventory management within individual organisations and fosters greater collaboration across the supply chain. The increased visibility into real-time product movements will lead to improved coordination and responsiveness to market dynamics.
The role of employee training and engagement
Regular staff training is a crucial component of maintaining resilient supply chains. Comprehensive training on inventory management best practices and security protocols can help employees better understand their role in preventing inventory losses.
A key part of these educational workshops is engaging teams in the inventory management process and incentivizing proactive behaviors. Engaged workers are more likely to adopt a sense of ownership, allowing them to actively participate in identifying and preventing shrinkage incidents. Improving engagement is also vital to retention in an industry where mass hiring would only fill around 75 per cent of open positions despite growing reliance on technology.
Reduce inventory shrinkage during the holidays
Supply chain predictability through optimised inventory management will be key to navigating this year’s holiday season complexities. The impact of these strategies will reverberate across the value chain, streamlining inventory flow, reducing stockouts and enhancing customer satisfaction.
About the author:
Emily Newton is a tech and industrial journalist and the Editor-in-Chief of Revolutionized magazine. Subscribe to the Revolutionized newsletter for more content from Emily.
Inventory management
Thanksgiving
Freight costs
Red Sea attacks
labour shortages
inventory losses
Emily Newton
Revolutionized magazine
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