Consumer Behavior

Retailers busy digitizing but inventory accuracy still a bit low

Photo: Adobe Stock

October 19, 2023

Over half, 54%, of retailers report that customers can buy in-store and return on line, a small spike from 50% in 2022, and if a product is out of stock instore, 48% reported proving customes could buy it online.

Yet retailers are reporting an accurate figure when it comes to inventory just 70% of the time.

Those are findings from Manhattan Associates Inc.'s latest international omnichannel research.

The study focused on how retailers are increasingly digitizing in-store offerings in efforts to improve customer experiences, according to a press release.

"If you don't know where a third of your inventory is, or what it is that you have, that's a lot of stock that is either not being sold, marked down or at worst thrown away," Henri Seroux, SVP EMEA at Manhattan Associates, said in the release.

"It's vital that retailers have solutions with the flexibility and agility to allow them to recognize and act on shifting consumer behavior in near 'real-time.' With access to accurate data, retailers can deliver actionable insight into the hands of their associates, enabling them to add value to every customer's unique path to purchase," Seroux said.

Consumers are engaging actively cross channels when shopping with 84% starting the buying journey online, a small jump over 82% last year.

When it comes to engaging with retailers before or after purchase, email ranks tops, with 47%, with direct in-person landing second and 43% avoiding retailers if they were not environmentally conscious.

"The future of our planet is not something that we can or should be forced to compromise on as consumers or retailers, yet clearly, in the current economic climate, affordability is taking priority over sustainability. This year's research highlights how important unification across omnichannel commerce and supply chain is, as an avenue to lessen the economic burden on consumers, but also, as a way to address the longer-term environmental impact unchecked consumerism is having on our planet," said Seroux.

The survey polled 6,000 adult consumers over the age of 18.