5 Secrets to Eliminate Stockouts with an OMS

By Charlotte Journo-Baur, founder of WISHIBAM

Have you ever felt that gut-wrenching frustration when a customer leaves your store empty-handed because the product they wanted wasn’t available? This situation, dreaded by all retailers, isn’t inevitable. In 2023, stockouts still cost retailers nearly $1 trillion annually worldwide according to IHL Group. Behind these staggering figures lie disappointed customers, missed sales, and damaged brand reputation.

How can you reduce stockouts with an OMS? That’s the question I asked myself a few years ago before developing a solution that’s now transforming daily operations for numerous retailers.

In this article, I’ll share concrete strategies that have proven successful in the field and show you how a well-implemented Order Management System can become your greatest ally in bidding farewell to stockouts.

Understanding the Stakes of Stockouts in Retail

The Impact of Stockouts on Customer Experience and Sales

Each stockout is a double penalty: we lose the immediate sale and potentially the customer forever.

This remark, recently shared with me by a retail chain director, conveys the true cost of stockouts. According to a McKinsey study, 30% of consumers turn to competitors after experiencing a stockout. Even more concerning, 70% of them change their long-term purchasing behavior after several negative experiences.

The financial stakes are high. Retailers lose an average of 4.1% of their annual sales to stockouts. For a store making €10 million in revenue, that means €410,000 lost each year—without considering the domino effect on customer loyalty.

The pain intensifies during promotional periods. 63% of consumers are particularly dissatisfied when a promoted product is unavailable (Retail Dive). This sense of a “false promise” can seriously harm trust in your brand.

Common Causes of Stockouts

But why do these stockouts persist? I’ve identified three major causes:

• Inaccurate demand forecasting: Without powerful analytical tools, anticipating future needs becomes guesswork. As a supply chain director once shared, “Before having an integrated system, our forecasts resembled bets rather than analyses.”
• Lack of inventory visibility: Manual inventories, “phantom” stock, and invisible available products create dangerous blind spots—fertile ground for stockouts.
• Desynchronization between sales channels: Today, omnichannel increases complexity. Without a central system, it’s easy to sell the same item twice—both online and in-store—causing errors and disappointment.

The Crucial Role of an OMS (Order Management System) in Inventory Management

How an OMS Optimizes Inventory Visibility and Management

An Order Management System (OMS) isn’t just another software for logistics. It’s the brain that orchestrates your product and order flows. With an OMS, you get a real-time view of your inventory—whether in the main warehouse, in transit, or on sales floors.

The OMS acts as the conductor, harmonizing all your sales channels. When a customer purchases via your website, the information updates everywhere instantly. No more selling the same product twice!

What sets a modern OMS apart is its predictive power. Leaning on artificial intelligence and machine learning, these platforms refine forecasts by learning from historical sales, accounting for seasonality, trends, and even weather.

Example: A ready-to-wear brand using our OMS reduced stockouts by 37% during sales, thanks to predictive alerts that triggered replenishments or transfers at just the right time.

Case Studies: Companies That Transformed Their Inventory Management with an OMS

Here are two stories that illustrate the OMS’s power:

• Maison Élégance, a high-end décor retailer, reduced stockouts by 42%, increased conversion rates by 18%, and decreased dormant stock by 23% after adopting an OMS. The key? Unified inventory vision and strategic internal transfers.
• SportLife (sporting goods): by keeping 20% of their collection “floating” and allocating it based on early sales patterns, they saw a 56% drop in new product stockouts and a 14% rise in revenue during launches. The OMS paid for itself in just 7 months.

Wishibam: Your Ally for Sovereign Omnichannel Digitalization

Why Choose Wishibam for Your Omnichannel Strategy

When I founded Wishibam, my vision was simple: build a solution that addresses real retail challenges. Our OMS was created by retailers, for retailers, with deep knowledge of field reality.

Testimonials and Concrete Results: Numbers That Speak for Themselves

• Galeries Lafayette: After deploying our solution, saw a 53% reduction in stockouts, a 27% uptick in cross-store sales, and sales associates saved 2.5 hours each day.
• Printemps: By turning stores into logistics hubs (“Ship From Store”), they cut perceived stockouts by 47%, accelerated delivery by 1.2 days, and multiplied the use of “dormant” stock.

“Before Wishibam, I lost 15 sales per week due to stockouts. Now, even if a product isn’t in my store, I can bring it from another boutique or the warehouse. My salespeople are superheroes in our customers’ eyes!”

These are not isolated cases. On average, our clients report:

• 50% fewer stockouts
• +15-20% average basket
• ROI achieved in less than 12 months

But beyond numbers, it’s about enhancing the customer experience. When salespeople say “yes” instead of “sorry, it’s out,” your entire brand perception shifts.

Conclusion: Transform Your Stockouts into Opportunities

Stockouts are no longer inevitable in the digital era. With a powerful OMS like Wishibam’s, they even become chances to prove your agility and care for the customer.

I have seen too many retailers consider inventory management as merely logistical, when it is in fact strategic and directly impacts customer experience and profitability.

The question is no longer “do you need an OMS?” but “when and how will you implement it to outrun your competitors?” In a market of shrinking margins where every sale counts—can you afford to lose customers to avoidable stockouts?

FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About Reducing Stockouts with an OMS