The 5 Mistakes That Sabotage Your Inventory Connection (and How to Avoid Them)
By Charlotte Journo-Baur, founder of WISHIBAM
Let’s be honest: when a tech solution provider promises to “synchronize your inventory with one click,” you already know it’s too good to be true. Having guided hundreds of retailers through their digital transformation, I can affirm that connecting inventory between physical stores and e-commerce is one of the most underestimated challenges in unified commerce. Yet, it’s also the most crucial. In this article, I’ll deconstruct the myth of “easy connection” and share what we’ve learned from connecting over 5,000 retail locations across France.
The good news? While it’s not “easy,” it’s perfectly achievable with the right approach.
The Omnichannel Promise: Between Dream and Reality
What Customers Want in 2025: Immediacy, Availability, Consistency
Consumers in 2025 no longer distinguish between online and offline. For them, it’s simply… shopping. A Shopify study published in 2024 reveals that 73% of consumers immediately abandon their purchase when they discover a product is unavailable online. Even more striking: 68% will never return to your site after experiencing an out-of-stock situation.
I recently spoke with Marie, director of a ready-to-wear brand who lost a loyal customer after she drove 40 minutes to collect an item reserved through click & collect… only to find it wasn’t actually available. “The worst part,” Marie told me, “is that the product did exist in-store, but the information hadn’t been updated on the website.”
The requirement for unified inventory is no longer a marketing luxury reserved for retail giants. It has become a standard, a basic expectation. Customers want to:
- Check product availability in real-time
- Reserve items from their couch and have certainty they’ll be ready on arrival
- Order online and receive deliveries from the nearest store
This fluidity is now considered normal.
Retailers’ Struggles: Fragmented Inventory, Human Error, Aging Tools
On the other side of the counter, the reality is quite different. Our Wishibam 2024 study reveals that one in two merchants still manages inventory manually, often using Excel spreadsheets updated irregularly. Worse: 37% of multi-store retailers have no real-time visibility into their remote inventory.
“We lose sales every day due to poorly synchronized inventory,” says Thomas, manager of a decoration shop in Lyon. “Either we display products that are no longer available, or we don’t display products that are. In both cases, it’s money going to competitors.”
The causes are numerous:
- Obsolete POS software unable to communicate with e-commerce platforms
- Archaic inventory processes
- Lack of team training
- Simply no time to update information
- Inevitable human errors with manual processes
I’ve seen retailers lose up to 15% of their potential revenue due to these synchronization problems. And this figure doesn’t even account for the impact on reputation and customer loyalty.
Why Connecting Your Inventory Isn’t Simple (But Vital)
Technical Pitfalls: Rigid ERPs, Temperamental APIs, Internal Silos
Digging deeper, we discover that obstacles to inventory synchronization are often technical. The main stumbling block? ERPs (Enterprise Resource Planning) designed well before the omnichannel era. These systems, often expensive and rigid, weren’t designed to communicate with websites or mobile applications.
For example, a bookstore chain we worked with had a legacy ERP with no API for extracting inventory data. The only solution offered? A daily CSV export, totally unsuitable for real-time commerce.
Another major barrier: system heterogeneity. It’s common in retail chains to find various technologies (POS, ERP, WMS, e-commerce platforms) from different vendors. Getting these systems to communicate can be a puzzle, especially when some vendors charge fortunes to open their APIs.
The hidden cost of non-connection is considerable:
- Lost sales (8–12% of revenue according to McKinsey)
- Poor customer experience
- Overstocks and stockouts that undermine profitability
The Mistake to Avoid: Believing a Plugin Is Enough
“We found a plugin for $99/month that synchronizes our Shopify with our POS!” I frequently hear this hopeful statement. And I understand the enthusiasm: who doesn’t dream of a simple, affordable solution?
Unfortunately, reality is more complex. Forrester (2024) shows that “plug-and-play” solutions fail in 60% of cases to provide reliable inventory synchronization in an omnichannel context. Why? Because connecting systems is just the tip of the iceberg.
What many retailers don’t anticipate is the logistical complexity behind real-time inventory:
- Reserved products for click & collect but not picked up
- Handling returns
- Restocking times
- Managing “floating” inventory (in transit)
A simple plugin cannot answer these questions.
I’ve seen merchants invest in these seemingly economical solutions, only to end up with more problems than before: desynchronized data, sales of unavailable products, and frustration for in-store teams.
The truth? A real omnichannel inventory management solution is not just a technical connector. It requires:
- Redesigning processes
- Training teams
- Often evolving company culture
The Sovereign and Scalable Solution: The Wishibam Approach
A Platform Designed for Retailers, Not Developers
At Wishibam, we approached the problem differently. Instead of creating yet another technical solution, we designed a platform adapted to retailers’ operational realities. Our goal? Make technology adapt to retail needs, not the other way around.
- We interface with any existing system (including the oldest and most specific)
- Connectors for 40+ different ERPs and POS, including proprietary systems
- Hybrid solutions for the most complex cases (automation + human intervention)
Our real-time synchronization system manages:
- Quantities
- Temporary stockouts
- Reservations
- Restocking times
- Forecasted inventory
It offers complete omnichannel visibility: every in-store salesperson can instantly see available stock in all outlets and warehouses.
Results: In a city center we connected in 2023 (87 independent retailers), online sales increased by 30% in three months.
Even more impressive: the conversion rate jumped from 2.1% to 3.8%, simply because customers trusted the displayed availability.
Regaining Control of Your Inventory Means Regaining Power Over Your Business
Beyond technical aspects, effectively connecting inventory is a major strategic issue. It allows you to reclaim control against e-commerce giants making product availability their main strength.
The impact on customer satisfaction is immediate:
- Increase in Net Promoter Score (NPS): +27% after deployment
- 41% higher repurchase probability following a smooth online-offline experience
Profitability benefits:
- Stockouts reduced: on average -35%
- Inventory levels optimized: -18% of tied-up capital
- Increased turnover rate
- Logistics cost savings with deliveries from the nearest store
There’s also a digital sovereignty issue: French retail can’t afford to depend entirely on foreign technological solutions with different market realities. Wishibam is developed in France, GDPR-compliant, adapted to local legal constraints and the specific French retail ecosystem.
Connecting Your Inventory: Not “Too Easy,” But Finally Possible and Profitable
So, is connecting inventory between store and website really “too easy” as some solution providers claim? As you’ve understood, the answer is no. It’s a project that requires expertise, methodology, and support.
But the good news? It’s now perfectly achievable, even for medium-sized structures, thanks to platforms like Wishibam with industrialized integration processes.
Even better: the investment pays off handsomely. Our clients see ROI in 6 to 12 months on average—sometimes less for those who previously suffered most from synchronization problems.
In 2025, the question is no longer whether you should unify your inventory, but how to do it effectively. In a market where margins are shrinking and competition intensifies, offering the right product, in the right place, at the right time, is not a competitive advantage—it’s a condition for survival.
Where are you in your inventory connection strategy? Are you ready to take the step toward true omnichannel unification?
FAQ: Connecting Store and Website Inventory
How can I effectively synchronize inventory between my physical store and e-commerce site?
Effective synchronization requires three key elements: a technical platform capable of communicating with your existing systems (ERP, POS), adapted operational processes, and adequate team training. Solutions like Wishibam offer real-time synchronization that takes into account retail specifics such as reservations, returns, or in-transit inventory.
What’s the average cost to connect a store’s inventory with an e-commerce site?
The cost varies considerably depending on the complexity of your existing infrastructure. For a single store with standard systems, expect between $3,000 and $10,000 initial investment, then a monthly subscription of $200 to $500. For more complex networks, the investment may be higher, but ROI is typically achieved in 6 to 12 months through increased sales and inventory optimization.
What are the most common mistakes when implementing a unified inventory solution?
The three most frequent errors are: underestimating the need to train in-store teams, choosing a technical solution incompatible with the existing ERP, and neglecting to redesign operational processes. Many retailers focus solely on the technical aspect when the success of a unified inventory project relies 50% on technology and 50% on people and processes.
How do you manage click & collect reservations in a unified inventory system?
A good omnichannel inventory management solution must temporarily “safeguard” products reserved for click & collect, while defining clear rules (reservation duration, process for non-collection). At Wishibam, we’ve developed a system that allows visualization of these reserved stocks and automatically reintegrates them into available inventory if the customer doesn’t come within the allotted time.
Is it possible to connect inventory managed with different systems (multiple ERPs or POS software)?
Yes, it’s entirely possible with an integration platform like Wishibam that acts as a “control tower.” Our solution can connect simultaneously to different systems and create a unified view of inventory, even in heterogeneous environments. This is particularly useful for retailers who have grown through acquisition and find themselves with several legacy systems.
How long does it take to implement a unified inventory solution?
For a standard configuration, expect between 4 and 8 weeks from project start to production. This timeframe includes analysis of existing systems, development of specific connectors if necessary, team training, and a testing period. For more complex projects involving numerous points of sale or proprietary systems, deployment can extend to 3 to 6 months, generally with a progressive approach by store batches.