Real-Time Inventory Visibility for Unstoppable E-Commerce Growth

We're currently in a landscape of constant e-commerce innovation. Competition is growing fiercer, and profitability and speed of product availability depend on operational efficiency. The line between online and offline channels no longer exists; what is offline should be seen online and vice versa.

E-commerce practitioners must stay a step ahead in technology to meet customer expectations, as manual processes can only keep up to a point. A real-time inventory visibility solution allows easy management and a bird's-eye view of stockouts, overstocking, returns, delays and operational output.

A centralized real-time view of inventory information across online and offline channels, as well as hybrid models, is highly valuable for delighting customers, improving fulfillment speed and scaling efficiently.

In this blog, we'll explore the most common inventory challenges and the solutions for having a high-functioning inventory visibility system that maximizes e-commerce growth.

Inventory Visibility Challenges

• Lack of visibility into inventory can cost you

  Inaccurate inventory data, including details like SKU, outdated products, storage plans and geographic or seasonal demand, causes inefficiencies in decision-making. The lack of real-time visibility into stock levels disrupts processes such as backorders, leading to higher costs and missed opportunities, which directly impact business revenue.

• Lack of multi-channel integration leads to business growth obstacles

  There is a need for consistent customer communication across all sales channels, online stores and third-party marketplaces. Only an advanced system capable of managing various inventory types in real time accurate stock levels across all platforms. 

• Return management and inventory visibility are not connected

  Treating returns as a separate process is not an efficient practice. Instead of handling returns across multiple channels separately, implementing a systematic approach for managing returns, updating inventory and restocking products across all channels helps businesses avoid inventory inaccuracies and delays that disrupt operations. Without integrated return management as a full-service offering, organizations will struggle to address the interconnected issues that arise.

Innovations Optimizing Inventory Visibility and Management

Innovative technologies are improving inventory visibility management through real-time tracking, process automation and data-based decision-making. Some of these innovations include:

• Real-time inventory visibility: Leverage advanced inventory management software to solve challenges like outdated stock and inefficient storage, while accurately tracking products throughout the supply chain.
• Automate supply chain: Replace outdated manual processes and streamline administration, fulfillment, warehousing and transportation processes.
• AI and ML-driven production planning: Process and analyze vast data sets, market trends and external factors to accurately predict future demand. Use AI and ML to optimize resource allocation and enable dynamic adjustments to production overflows.
• Omnichannel inventory: Centralize inventory control across platforms for a seamless buyer experience and provide faster and more flexible delivery options.
• IoT-powered inventory replenishment: Leverage IoT solutions like RFID tags, barcode scanners, GPS and other smart sensors to improve inventory tracking and ensure timely replenishment.
• Vendor-managed inventory: Alleviate operational load by shifting inventory responsibility to vendors and optimize ordering and reduce supply chain costs. 
• Reverse logistics: Efficiently manage returns through inspection, repair, recycling or resale to maximize recovery value and enhance inventory visibility.

Benefits of a Real-Time Inventory Visibility Solution

There are several tangible benefits to switching to an advanced inventory visibility solution with real-time capabilities.

• Enhanced CX

  Real-time inventory visibility helps customers find preferred products across all channels, reducing cancellations and improving the shopping experience. It provides accurate stock information, allowing expectations to be managed and informed decisions to be made. This leads to higher conversion rates and increased loyalty.

• Optimized Operations

  Real-time information on stock levels, returns and delays provides granular insights that improve operations like same-day shipping, express delivery, BOPIS and order orchestration. This enhances operational efficiency, enabling faster and more accurate order fulfillment.

• Sales and Stock Optimization 

  Real-time data in a centralized system consolidates inventory across all channels, improving stock management and reducing risks from siloed information. This helps with restocking and pricing to maximize revenue.

• Data-Driven Decisions

  Data integrated into inventory systems offers more visibility into current trends, seasonal variations and shifts in consumer demand. As a result, businesses can adjust strategies according to market changes, which not only boosts productivity but also contributes to long-term business growth.

Can Your Inventory Keep Up With the Demand?

As an e-commerce practitioner in the shifting realm of online and offline commerce, you need the ability to fulfill orders from any channel at any time and maintain real-time tracking for a unified inventory view. A robust inventory visibility solution provides the tools you need in anticipating, adapting and scaling successfully. We’ve explained all of the above in much more detail in our whitepaper.

Get Started with HCL Commerce Cloud’s Inventory Visibility Management

If you’re an HCL Commerce Cloud customer, our inventory visibility and tracking features are already embedded into your system. 

If you’re not a customer yet and would like to create a robust, future-ready inventory visibility system, contact our team for a demo on the benefits of HCL Commerce Cloud or purchasing Inventory Service for Inventory Visibility and Management as a Packaged Business Capability add-on to your current e-commerce solution.