Omnichannel Inventory Management

Challenge

‍A Dutch retailer with 12 physical locations and an online store was experiencing frequent stockouts and excess inventory issues. Their manual inventory management was costing them €400,000+ annually in lost sales and carrying costs, with stock levels often misaligned with actual demand across channels.

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Solution

‍An AI inventory prediction and allocation system using Obviously AI and Make.com that:

• Analyzed historical sales data across all channels to identify patterns
• Predicted demand fluctuations based on 20+ factors including seasonality, promotions, and local events
• Automatically optimized stock distribution between locations based on predicted demand
• Generated smart reordering recommendations with confidence scores
• Provided early warnings for potential stockouts or overstocking situations

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Implementation

‍The implementation included:

• Data integration from POS systems, e-commerce platform, and inventory management
• Custom prediction model development and testing
• Building automated workflows for inventory reallocation recommendations
• Staff training and gradual rollout across locations

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Results

• 91% reduction in stockouts across all locations and channels
• €195,000 annual savings in inventory carrying costs
• 1.5 FTE saved in inventory management and purchasing
• 17% improvement in overall inventory turnover rate

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Long-term Impact

The system has continued to improve over time as it accumulates more data, with prediction accuracy increasing from 78% initially to 94% after six months.

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