Sep 1, 2026 1 min read
It is a common paradox: retailers with the highest total inventory value often still suffer frequent stock-outs on their best-selling items. The root cause is rarely lack of effort. It is usually the absence of clear, consistently applied rules for safety stock and coverage by category.
Without defined coverage targets, buyers tend to over-order slow-moving items defensively while fast movers are ordered reactively and run out between deliveries. The fix is not simply cutting stock across the board, which risks worsening availability, but differentiating coverage rules by category velocity and supplier lead time.
Getting this right typically frees meaningful working capital while improving, not harming, on-shelf availability.