Inventory visibility, showing your customer what stock you have, how much you have and where you have it. This is a concept that is coming up more and more within the retail industry. But is it really that important? These days customers want certainty and reliability when they shop online. Consumers have is their disappointment when ordering an item only to find out after-the-fact that it is out of stock. Retailers lose sales when consumers are disappointed. Mostly these customers will purchase from a competitor showing the inventory that is available online and in-store.

Take a glance at what influence consumers purchasing decisions:

• 78% reported that they looked up inventory before visiting stores.
• 77% mentioned that they influenced by seeing the quantity of items available.
• 76% said that they have been influenced by the multiple fulfillment options.
• 68% indicated that they hesitated to order without store inventory information.

A Graph Shows What Influence Consumers Purchasing Decisions.