Omnichannel

Verizon hospitality leader shares insight on eliminating retail's phantom inventory

Verizon's hospitality strategy leader Katie Riddle shares insight on how to avoid phantom inventory and how computer vision technology is giving retailers real-time visibility into what's on shelves and where missing products are hiding.

Photo: Verizon

April 13, 2026 by Judy Mottl — Editor: RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com, Connect Media

Summarize with

When it comes to retail customer experience, the prime success factor is a consumer finding exactly what they're looking for — whether it's on a self in a store or on a search result on a retailer's e-commerce site.

Searching and not finding a wanted item is the antithesis of a rewarding customer experience, and often the culprit is phantom inventory — a discrepancy between inventory data and physical stock. It's when systems show a product as available, but it is not on the shelf or in the warehouse.

There are many causes for phantom inventory – poor scanning of product, unrecorded sales, merchandise receipt errors and even shoplifting,

For the retailer, it means a lost sale and an unhappy customer. For today's customer, it means jumping to another retailer to find the item and a dent in the loyalty equation.

Some industry watchers call phantom inventory a 'silent killer' as it often leads to prolonged out-of-stock scenarios.

To gain insight on why phantom inventory occurs, what it means for the retailer and how to stop it from happening, RetailCustomerExperience reached out to Katie Riddle, who leads the global hospitality strategy for Verizon. Riddle also offers insight into how computer vision technology is changing the phantom inventory situation by giving retailers real-time visibility into what's on shelves and where missing products are hiding.

In her role, Riddle helps Verizon identify and address the challenges of hospitality's global ecosystem by leveraging the strengths of our global network fabric, technology innovations and partner solutions.
Prior to Verizon, Riddle spent her 20-plus-year career with both agencies and global corporations, including Intercontinental Hotel Group, Choice Hotels, Four Seasons, and many others.

Q. What are the prime factors that lead to phantom inventory?

Riddle: Phantom inventory occurs when retailers lack real-time visibility into their actual shelf conditions — products show as available in systems but can't be found in-store. This happens when associates restock without immediate system updates, customers abandon items in wrong locations, or products get buried behind other merchandise during peak shopping periods.

Traditional inventory management relies on periodic check-ins rather than continuous monitoring, which means discrepancies can persist for hours or even days before detection. Without real-time visibility, retailers operate with incomplete data about what's actually available on their sales floor versus what their systems indicate.

Q. Inventory is obviously a critical aspect of retail and meeting consumer expectations. Why are some retailers falling prey to phantom inventory, and are most aware of the negative potential impact?

Riddle: Most retailers still depend on legacy inventory systems that weren't built for real-time shelf monitoring. These systems typically rely on batch updates or manual scans rather than continuous data flow. They lack the network infrastructure to support real-time monitoring across all store locations. Without stable, high-bandwidth connectivity, retailers can't get instant updates when products are moved or misplaced. Retailers understand phantom inventory directly impacts sales and customer experience, but traditional solutions don't provide the continuous visibility needed to prevent it.

Q. As customers expect and demand more, does a phantom inventory experience turn them off from a brand or do they forgive it before it becomes too much of an inconvenience?

Riddle: Phantom inventory breaks the trust customers have in a retailer's "phygital" integration. When store apps or websites show availability but customers can't locate items, it disrupts their shopping experience and forces them to either abandon purchases or seek associate help.

Customers increasingly expect seamless, self-service shopping experiences, so phantom inventory becomes more than just an inconvenience—it damages brand perception and customer loyalty over time. This is especially problematic when customers know they could have easily purchased the same item from a competitor with accurate inventory visibility.

Q. There are many ways to avoid phantom inventory on several levels in retail, and computer vision technology is coming into play as a way to avoid it. What is computer vision technology and how does it eliminate phantom inventory issues?

Riddle: Computer vision is camera-based technology that provides continuous, automated shelf monitoring that periodic manual counts can't deliver. The technology uses cameras and AI to track product placement in real-time, immediately identifying when items are misplaced or moved from their designated locations.

This creates real-time visibility that eliminates the hours or days between manual inventory checks when discrepancies can go undetected. The technology can integrate with retailers' inventory management systems and mobile apps to maintain accurate records that reflect actual shelf conditions.

Q. Understanding customers' wants and needs also plays into strong inventory management and oversight. How do predictive insights into shopper behavior help retailers get ahead of inventory issues before they impact sales?

Riddle: Predictive analytics reveal patterns in how phantom inventory develops. For example, which products get moved most frequently, when misplacement typically occurs, and which areas see the most disruption. Retailers can use this data to proactively adjust staffing levels, modify store layouts, or increase monitoring in problem areas before issues impact sales.

If analytics show certain high-traffic zones have more misplacement during weekend shopping, retailers can deploy additional staff or adjust product placement accordingly. This shifts retailers from reactive problem-solving to proactive prevention.

About Judy Mottl

Judy Mottl is the editor of RetailCustomerExperience.com and DigitalSignageToday.com at Connect Media. She is an award-winning editor, reporter and blogger who has worked for top media for nearly four decades, including AOL, InformationWeek and Internet News, as well as for leading technology providers including HP. She’s written everything from breaking news to in-depth industry trends and reported on technology long before the internet arrived, including the debut of the first smartphone. When she's not sharing insights on digital signage deployments and trends in retail customer experience she's on the beach or watching the latest live murder trial.

Connect with Judy: