Real-Time Inventory Visibility: Why it Matters & How to Get There

When your inventory lives in silos—in different systems, locations, and teams—you can’t simply fulfill orders accurately or make informed decisions. 

Nowadays, most omnichannel retailers sell on Shopify and Amazon, their own websites, wholesale, and brick-and-mortar stores, while fulfilling orders from warehouses, physical stores, and 3PLs.

However, that results in cancelled orders, overselling, missed revenue, bloated stock, and frustrated customers. 

In fact, U.S. retailers report an average inventory accuracy of about 65%, meaning roughly one-third of stock records are unreliable.

In this article, we’ll review how accurate and real-time inventory visibility lets you avoid these costly mistakes and scale with confidence by leveraging unified and comprehensive tools like fabric, a commerce operating system with unified inventory management.

What does “real-time inventory visibility” actually mean?

Real-time inventory visibility isn’t just about an inventory tool or software; it’s a connected ecosystem built for clarity in omnichannel order management. In such systems:

• Stock levels update instantly across every platform—Shopify, Amazon, marketplaces, stores, warehouses, and 3PLs.
• Orders sync simultaneously in real time between sales channels and fulfillment systems.
• Regardless of location, all your teams can see the exact and accurate inventory data.

Such accurate data can make a significant impact, especially when your brand has a distributed fulfillment across digital, physical, and third-party nodes.

Even leading retailers struggle with inventory accuracy. On average, accuracy levels hover around 90%, but for the lower performers, they can fall to just 65%, a gap that quietly drains revenue in your omnichannel operations.

Without real-time visibility, you’re at risk of losing margins and trust erosion due to:

• Overselling when stock has already moved.
• Missed sales when the inventory is offline.
• Poor routing decisions and fulfillment inefficiencies.

The risks of poor inventory visibility

When inventory visibility falters, your brand can face serious consequences. Here’s what’s at stake:

• Overselling or stockouts = lost sales and dissatisfied customers
  • Stockouts cost U.S. grocery retailers $15–20 billion annually, roughly 3% of total sales, impacting revenue and loyalty.
  • Almost 70% of online shoppers switch to competitors when an item they want is out of stock. 
  • Since typical retail out-of-stock rates range from 2% to 5%, even small gaps in inventory can result in significant customer loss.
• Inaccurate forecasting = bloated or insufficient stock
  • Global inventory distortion, from overstocks and stockouts, totals an estimated $1.77 trillion annually.
  • When systems lag behind reality, forecasting errors mount, tying up capital or leading to empty shelves.
• Manual reconciliation = wasted time and increased errors
  • Manual reconciliation processes can cost businesses $3–5 million annually and consume 100k human-hours in a large organization.
  • Slower processes can distract your teams from strategic work and result in errors and costly mistakes.
• Inefficient fulfillment = shipping missteps and delays
  • Orders may ship from suboptimal locations without accurate inventory data or get delayed, leading to increased split shipments, costs, and operational confusion.

What it takes to achieve real-time visibility

Achieving real-time inventory visibility starts with foundational capabilities that eliminate silos, automate updates, and keep your teams aligned. 

These are some of the crucial elements you should prioritize:

• Centralized control with OMS
  • A single source of truth can help you prevent data silos by unifying stock, orders, and reservations.
  • With everything flowing through one hub, your teams no longer need to worry about the reliability of the numbers.
• Real-time data syncing
  • Sales, returns, and transfers update instantly across all platforms, warehouses, and stores.
  • This ensures that your digital shelf always reflects what’s truly available.
• Unified order and fulfillment data
  • Linking what’s promised to what’s available eliminates the guesswork in routing orders.
  • With a unified inventory management system, you can reduce cancellations and ship more confidently to your customers.
• Location-level visibility
  • Know exactly what’s in stock at each store, distribution center, or 3PL partner.
  • Such a granular view allows your systems to pick the most efficient fulfillment point, cutting costs and delivery times.
• Automation and proactive alerts
  • Automated workflows reserve stock, reroute orders, or flag low levels before issues escalate.
  • Proactive alerts keep your teams responsive without the burden of constant manual checks.

The role of APIs and integrations

Any tool, on its own, can’t handle every piece of the omnichannel retail puzzle. It’s APIs that connect systems, allowing Shopify, WMS, ERP, marketplaces, and other tools to communicate and update in real time.

APIs aid unified inventory visibility by:

• Syncing orders seamlessly across platforms: APIs ensure orders placed on Shopify, Amazon, or a physical POS appear simultaneously across backend systems, eliminating delays or mismatches.
• Fetch real-time stock from warehouses: Whether it’s a central DC, a local store, or a 3PL, APIs deliver accurate availability instantly, so digital stock aligns with the real world.
• Smart order routing to the most efficient fulfillment node: With up-to-date data via APIs, systems like OMS, ERPs, WMS, etc., can route orders to the nearest or lowest-cost location—improving turnaround and margins.

According to the 2024 API Economy report, the U.S. economic impact of APIs is projected to grow from $2.3 trillion in 2024 to $3.4 trillion by 2030, highlighting their importance in the digital aspect of the business landscape.

Best practices to improve inventory accuracy

Here are some tactical, high-impact tips to sharpen your inventory forecasting and accuracy, so you can reduce errors and build trust across operations:

• Audit and standardize SKU data across systems
  • Ensure every SKU carries a consistent identifier, title, and unit across all platforms.
  • This prevents mismatches when orders flow between Shopify, warehouses, 3PLs, and your OMS.
• Implement cycle counting with real-time updates
  • Schedule regular, partial counts instead of once-a-year audits; this keeps data fresh and your team actively responsive.
  • Research shows best-in-class companies regularly reach 95%+ accuracy through cycle counting.
• Automate reservations and stock updates in real time
  • Let your systems automatically reserve stock upon order placement and update availability instantly.
  • This helps avoid overselling and keeps data aligned for you and your customers.
• Connect every fulfillment node to your OMS
  • Bridge every store, warehouse, and 3PL into your central system to consolidate visibility.
  • A networked infrastructure ensures you always work from a unified, accurate data set, maximizing efficiency across all channels.
• Prioritize systems with strong inventory APIs
  • Choose systems that push real-time updates and alerts across your tech stack so you can quickly identify risk areas.
  • APIs are the backbone of modern visibility, enabling intelligent action before problems multiply.

Visibility is the foundation of trust

Real-time inventory visibility is the core foundation of trust between your operations and your customers. 

Without accurate and up-to-date data, even the best marketing and sales strategies can unravel when orders can’t be fulfilled as promised.

Scaling efficiency is simply not possible when you’re operating on unreliable numbers. According to U.S. retail studies, inventory inaccuracies can reduce annual sales by around 4%, with stockouts and overstocks eating directly into revenue.

To gain a competitive edge, you should evaluate whether your current stack supports the speed, accuracy, and flexibility modern commerce demands.

Contact us and explore how fabric’s unified inventory management system can give you the real-time visibility you need to eliminate silos, restore customer confidence, and fuel profitable growth.

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