Purpose: To identify the challenges and find possible solutions for a brand in managing its inventory
Panellists: Lyn Warren (Retail & People Director, Joules), Penny Perry (Commercial & Wholesale Director, Joules) and Anshuman Agarwal (Co-Founder, Increff)
Summarised by: Mridu Das
Stock Agility
Joules operates its business through a multi-channel approach, and wholesale is one of its biggest channels. It is not just through pandemic but even before that, they had to really consider getting agility of their stock from an inventory management point of view. They also put in work in determining the location where the stock can be housed so as to achieve better agility versus demand. Joules is now looking at ways that can diminish the amount of stock they have to pull back from their partner stores where they have a commission model. Other segments of business that really helps the cause according to Penny Perry, are order-ins and click & collect. They are vigilant about any barriers that may arise from the difference in the inventory online versus in-store and they always keep an eye out that the assortment of products is live for the in-store as well as the online customer.
Penny further emphasized that Joules focuses on being a sustainable brand, then a fast fashion one and hence does not create new designs just for the sake of it. This attitude of the brand directly aids in easier inventory management for online partners like Amazon.
Creating a balance between online and offline inventory
Lyn highlights this with an example of the difference in consumption among their customers in different geographic locations. So striking the balance of inventory between channels becomes even more important.
Lyn Warren, with her expertise in retail, elaborated on how Joules is efficiently able to manage the stock inventory on the store side of the business. From the customer experience angle, striking a balance with the agility of the stock is also crucial as stores are another key channel of their business. On the other hand, they also have to consider moving the stock that is not selling out as expected to the online channels and vice versa. Lyn highlights this with an example of the difference in consumption among their customers in different geographic locations. So striking the balance of inventory between channels becomes even more important.
Joules also draws insights from the customer data that are collected in their offline stores and that further helps them to understand the tastes and preferences of the customers. These insights give them an edge to not only able to successfully manage stock but also maintain customer satisfaction.
Use of technology for inventory management
It can’t be stressed enough that technology also has a pivotal role to play in successful inventory management. Anshuman Agarwal, Co-Founder of Increff, an inventory management service company, spoke about how analysing granular sales data from stores can shed light on the demand pattern and therefore help in creating the right inventory.
Increff helped Puma to move from one warehouse to multiple warehouses by splitting their inventory. This positively impacted the shipping speed and costs and drove customer satisfaction.
Anshuman explained that by leveraging the data from each sales channel they have built a merchandising platform which can take into account every nuance of the demand trend and accordingly expose the right inventory to the right channel. He further added how by analysing the demand data, Increff helped Puma to move from one warehouse to multiple warehouses by splitting their inventory. This positively impacted the shipping speed and costs and drove customer satisfaction. Increff helps maintain a near-live sync with all the sales channels about the remaining inventory in the warehouse which can prevent the risk of unfulfilled orders. Their service is a solution to the dynamic demand environment that the current market asks for.
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