____________________________________________________________________________________ Inventory Management
MOVING
FORWARD
Why retailers are turning to AI to rethink inventory management. By Gurhan Kok
Inventory management might not be the most glamorous part of retail, but it’ s one of the most important. At a time when customers expect their favorite products to be available at a moment’ s notice- and retailers are under pressure to control costs- managing inventory efficiently has become a high-stakes balancing act.
For years, retailers have relied on traditional planning tools that depend heavily on past performance and gut instinct. However, as shopping behaviors grow more unpredictable and supply chains become harder to navigate, these old methods are proving outdated and inefficient. That’ s where artificial intelligence
( AI) is stepping in, offering a more adaptive and forward-looking approach to getting the right products on the right shelves- and keeping them there.
The shift from static to strategic
In the past, retailers traditionally looked at last year’ s sales numbers, added a bit of intuition and placed their bets. While that may have worked in more predictable times, it doesn’ t cut it today. Seasonal trends now shift faster; product lifecycles are shorter and regional buying patterns have become more necessary. What sells in one store might not move at all in another just a few zip codes away.
retail-merchandiser. com 23