Q4 is when inventory mismatches that felt minor in September turn into hundreds of unshipped orders by December.
One of the most common breakdowns for ecommerce brands and omnifulfillment is inventory accuracy. In Q1, we usually hear from brands that went into Black Friday confident in their numbers, only to find mid-sale that the system and the floor weren’t aligned. By the time counts were corrected, shipping windows had closed, and customer trust was already slipping.
The good news is that this is preventable. Ensuring you protect inventory accuracy is one of the easiest areas to lock down ahead of peak—if you know what to confirm with your provider. Here are a few things to check before volumes spike.
Your system shows stock, but it isn’t available to ship.
The gap between what shows as available and what can actually ship grows fastest during peak. An SKU might look healthy in the system, but items may already be committed to other orders, units might be stored in the wrong location and can’t be picked, and some are miscounted or misplaced.
A small error like this may not matter in August. But in November, it can mean hundreds of orders you can’t fill, missed cutoffs, and customers chasing tracking numbers that don’t move.
Here’s how to protect inventory accuracy before volumes spike.
Ask your fulfillment partner these three questions and pay close attention to the answers:
- How often do you cycle count the fastest-moving SKUs during peak?
- How quickly do you resolve mismatches once they’re found?
- What proof do you give me when corrections are made?
These questions are important because a weak provider will tell you, “Inventory issues happen during peak.” A strong one will show you mismatches in real time, fix them within 24 hours, and provide proof without you chasing them down. That level of responsiveness is what keeps customers happy.
Marketing campaigns, shipping cutoffs, and delivery promises all depend on accurate inventory. If the counts are wrong, everything built on top of them will fail. This is why inaccurate counts don’t just create backorders. They inflate safety stock, tie up cash that should be working elsewhere, cause over- or under-ordering from suppliers, and derail campaigns when the product you promoted can’t actually ship.
The right checks now protect your inventory accuracy during the busiest (and most profitable) time of the year.
We’ve covered just one of the common pitfalls seen during peak season. In “The Ultimate Guide to Avoiding Holiday Logistics Pitfalls”, we break down three more that cause the biggest problems in Q4 and how to avoid them. Download it now so your business can get through the holidays without losing momentum.
