Multichannel Retailing Week: Inventory Management

One of the most under-appreciated jobs in Multichannel Retail is the title of Inventory Manager.

The inventory manager supports the merchant. By looking at sales history, the circulation plan, the e-mail marketing plan, the online marketing plan, and traditional advertising, the inventory manager determines how many units of an item to purchase.

Multichannel retailing made inventory management very challenging. Five issues really challenge the inventory manager.

First, inventory managers have to deal with different measurement techniques in different channels. The catalog/telephone channel captures "lost sales". In other words, when a customer calls to place an order, and the item isn't available, the fact that the customer "wanted" to purchase this item is recorded. This is a huge benefit that catalogers have over retailers. If 1,000 units were forecast, and customers "wanted" to purchase 1,850 units, the inventory manager has access to this data. Next year, the inventory manager will order the appropriate number of units. In retail, once the 1,000 units "sell through", there are no more units to purchase. In retail, there is an art to forecasting what would have sold. The online channel strikes a balance between cataloging and retailing, in that "lost sales" can be captured by the multichannel retailer, if management is willing to capture the information.

The second challenge facing multichannel inventory managers is the information systems they get to use. Catalog/Online systems are frequently different than Retail inventory management systems. The systems don't always talk to each other, and the systems occasionally utilize different metrics. This means that folks working in catalog/online channels view the business differently than folks working in the retail channel. Different skill-sets evolve. In some ways, it is like the catalog/online inventory manager speaks Spanish, while the retail inventory manager speaks Portuguese. The multichannel CFO plays a key role in this relationship. If the CFO understands the importance of linking disparate systems, staff can evolve to speak a common language. Linked systems, however, need to accommodate the unique measurement differences between channels. This does not always happen in multichannel retailing. If retail wins out, it is possible that demand will not be captured in the catalog channel, sub-optimizing catalog marketing activities.

The third challenge multichannel inventory managers deal with is the information captured in inventory management systems. In most cases, changes in marketing strategy cause significant changes in unit sales. For instance, a drop in circulation depth of twenty percent frequently yields a ten percent decrease in sales. Featuring an item in an e-mail campaign may drive a fifty percent increase in sales of that item. Paid search can influence item sales. In most cases, the inventory manager does not have an organized information system that allows the inventory manager to analyze the simultaneous influence of all of these factors. Really talented inventory managers tabulate their own information system in spreadsheets, and build good relationships with circulation, e-mail marketing and online marketing individuals.

Fourth, not all items sell at the same rate in all channels. Items that are prominently featured in catalogs sell well over the telephone, sell at an average rate online, and may not sell well in retail stores. Items featured in e-mails cause online sales to surge, but may not drive any retail or telephone sales. The audience purchasing via telephone, online, and stores is frequently different. The telephone audience is often older, and lives in rural areas. The online customer may be younger, living in the suburbs. The retail customer lives near a store. Differences in demography and lifestyle cause each item to sell differently, by channel. The inventory manager does not usually have this type of information available in a systematized way. The inventory manager has to make a lot of guesses, in order to be accurate.

Fifth, the inventory manage has to be really accurate, but is not given the tools necessary to create accurate forecasts. If too much merchandise is purchased, then overstock occur, costing the company a ton of profit. If too little merchandise is purchased, sold-outs and lost-sales occur, costing the company a ton of profit. The inventory manager is constantly hounded by merchandising and financial staff members to be accurate. The reward for being accurate is harvested by all employees. The risk for not being accurate falls upon the inventory manager.

Over the next ten years, we will see an inventory manager from a multichannel retailer create an inventory management system that integrates the issues listed above. Many vendors try their hardest to do this today. I believe somebody will figure out how to leverage all of the spreadsheets clogging network drives at multichannel retailers, allowing the multichannel inventory manager to be more effective. This information will be combined with clickstream data --- sales information, marketing information, and the items customers viewed on the website will be combined in a way that allows inventory managers to do a better job.

With luck, CFOs will agree that these systems are needed, and will spend the money to implement them.

Until that happens, the complexity of a multichannel business will continue to challenge inventory managers. These folks are frequently compensated at or below the company average for professional staff, but bear more risk than the average employee.

Your turn. What is your view of multichannel inventory management?