3 in 5 supply chain executives worry about inventory shortages during the holidays

The situation: While 87.2% of retailers have taken measures to ensure trending products are available during peak shopping periods, about 39% still cite maintaining adequate inventory as their biggest concern, per a Manhattan Associates survey.

To avoid getting caught flat-footed this holiday season, most retailers (82.4%) have plans to manage last-minute order surges.

• 70.9% of retailers plan to increase in-store inventory to handle last-minute order spikes.
• Yet despite these efforts, 62.4% worry about inventory shortages.

Ripple effects: There’s good reason for retailers to be concerned about keeping items in stock. Inventory shortages can create a ripple effect that drives shoppers away during the crucial final months of the year.

• Most (94%) of consumers say product availability is a critical factor when shopping for holiday gifts, per a recent Cin7 survey.
• 7 in 10 (70%) say they have abandoned an entire purchase when even one of the items they intended to buy was out of stock.

Our take: With significant uncertainty looming this holiday season, retailers should hope for the best but be prepared for the worst.

Many appear to have taken that approach as 61.2% of retailers have recently invested in new technologies to make their supply chain more efficient, per Manhattan. A similar share, 58.4%, have hired more workers to manage peak demand.

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