Out-of-stocks and overstocks have plagued the apparel industry for years, resulting in depressed margins and excess waste. With the Covid-19 pandemic further upending global supply chains, it’s now or never for retailers to reassess and take control of their inventory.

A recent NetSuite survey indicated that 70 percent of retailers find conducting a physical inventory count to be a painful process. Meanwhile, 43 percent of small businesses either still track inventory manually, without using any software, or not at all. With multiple channels, fleets of stores, growing competition and demanding consumers, allocating goods and fulfilling orders has taken on new levels of complexity.

Sourcing Journal’s 2021 Inventory Management Report, sponsored by Oracle NetSuite, explores the gaps retailers still have in their inventory management strategies, and highlights the practices, technologies and services necessary to not only shore up these weaknesses but outperform the competition in the new normal.

The report delves deep into the lessons retail has learned over the last year with the knowledge that the pandemic may have been a black swan event, but the potential for supply chain disruption will always be present.

Read the report to discover:

• How executives from Foot Locker, Toms, Hammitt and others are enhancing visibility into their suppliers and creating a single view of their stock
• The benefits, risks and rewards of local-for-local manufacturing in today’s apparel supply chain
• Insights from the AAFA and Bain & Company on how fashion players can insulate against the next “shock”
• How to improve online fulfillment efficiency and curb ensuing costs, while leveraging options like pick up in store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup
• The tools for improving inventory accuracy and customer satisfaction