Running too low (or high) on stock doesn’t just mess up the back office. It hurts your bottom line, your cash flow and your customer loyalty. Retailers everywhere are struggling to find the right balance. So we decided to get to the bottom of it.
We surveyed 200 small and mid-sized retailers about their inventory experience to find out four key things: What's failing, Why it's happening, What it's costing, How they're fixing it.
The results? Eye opening. Here’s a sneak peek.
That sinking feeling when a customer makes it to the checkout counter and you have to turn them away empty handed? It happens more often than you might think. And the fallout isn’t pretty. 23% of retailers only realize an item is out of stock when a customer tries to buy it. 56% lose up to 10% of customers due to stockouts. 1 in 4 lose even more customers — permanently.
57% of retailers still rely on manual inventory counts. Many are stuck using spreadsheets, gut instinct and end-of-day guesswork, opening the door to mistakes that create a backroom mess. 31% use gut feel to forecast demand. 34% count by hand weekly or monthly. 6% use advanced tech like RFID or AI
1 in 3 retailers say their inventory doesn’t sync with their POS. And the communication breakdown is more than just inconvenient. It’s leading to inaccuracies that hurt both online and in-store sales. 32% face monthly sync issues. 21% still reconcile manually. 35% use unified inventory tools
The cost: Clogged cash flow: Too much money is trapped on the shelf.
While retailers struggle to stock enough of their hot sellers, poor inventory systems are also creating the opposite problem: too much of the wrong thing. 70% of retailers have 20-60% of their business capital tied up in inventory. With rising financing costs, every shelf that’s overstocked with low-performing products is a drain retailers can’t afford. 50% report higher inventory financing costs. 31% prioritize paying staff over suppliers when cash runs tight
Inventory issues aren’t unsolvable. In fact, retailers know exactly what they need to turn things around — and the solutions already exist. Real-time tracking (43%). Mobile access (29%). Multi-channel sync (28%).
So what’s stopping them? Cost (45%), Training (28%).
Discover what else 200 retailers revealed — and how you can use their findings to turn your own inventory chaos around.
Get the full report
This report is provided for informational purposes only and reflects data collected from a survey of 200 US based small and medium-sized retail businesses conducted in June 2025. The views and experiences of individual retailers featured in commentary or quotes are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Global Payments. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained herein, Global Payments makes no representations or warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of the data or any conclusions drawn from it. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from Global Payments.
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