What happens when retailers cannot trust their stock records?

A Cardiff University project received Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Impact Acceleration Account (IAA) funding to support a focused phase of engagement around the practical application of predictive research into inventory record inaccuracies.

The activity sits alongside a wider collaborative research programme involving Professor Aris Syntetos from Cardiff Business School, Professor Yacine Rekik and Professor Christoph Glock, working with Efficient Consumer Response (ECR) and retail partners.

Inventory record inaccuracies occur when retailers’ stock records do not match the stock physically available in store. This can affect ordering decisions, product availability, business planning and waste. This project relates to a wider collaborative research programme involving Professor Aris Syntetos, Professor Yacine Rekik and Professor Christoph Glock, working with Efficient Consumer Response (ECR), to explore data-led approaches to this issue.

The IAA-funded activity provided support for engagement linked to the existing research programme. This included further discussion with ECR and retail partners, consideration of practical implementation questions, and reflection on how the approach could be tested, communicated and developed in industry settings.

IAA funding supported a focused phase of engagement around the practical application of the research. It helped the team consider how predictive approaches to inventory record inaccuracies could be discussed with retail partners, tested in industry settings and positioned for future development.

This IAA-funded project sits alongside Professor Syntetos and his team’s wider research on inventory forecasting and governance in retail. Read more about recent success and recognition of this wider work here: – https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/news/view/3073980-cardiff-university-research-shows-retailers-can-dramatically-improve-stock-accuracy-and-sales-by-counting-smarter