Research report

The Inventory Illusion: Turning Inventory Accuracy into Confident Grocery Execution

A strategic guide to bridging inventory accuracy and execution in grocery, with a focus on real-time visibility, operational signals, and fulfillment performance—co-authored with RETHINK Retail.

Cover image of the white paper

Executive summary

Across grocery retail, systems report high accuracy rates. Yet on the ground, teams face stockouts, substitutions, and missed fulfillment.

This report unpacks the growing gap between system accuracy and real-world execution, why it’s costing grocers sales, margin, and customer trust—and how leading retailers are closing that gap by feeding real-time store execution signals into planning, forecasting, and fulfillment decisions.

You'll learn:

  • Why “in stock” doesn’t always mean sellable, findable, or fulfillable
  • How execution gaps drive stockouts and substitutions
  • Where forecasting falls short without real-time operational signals
  • How leading grocers align planning with execution to improve performance
Collage of pages from a white paper showing digital retail solutions including mobile apps, grocery store staff using tablets, and data dashboards.

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Connect planning to execution with real-time visibility across grocery inventory, replenishment, and fulfillment.