Balancing service level, inventory costs and field responsiveness

Store replenishment is one of the most structuring levers to ensure product availability and maintain a consistent in store offer. In retail, luxury and fashion networks, service level and inventory performance depend directly on the ability to supply stores at the right pace, with inventory aligned to actual demand.

This process relies on a series of daily decisions: setting target stock levels, prioritising stores, managing sales deviations, identifying stockout risks and updating parameters. Without robust steering, commercial volatility, large assortments and geographic dispersion quickly generate costly inefficiencies, particularly inventory related costs such as additional transfers, markdowns or lost sales.

Through numerous projects delivered on these topics, OneHive has supported organisations facing the same challenges. These experiences have allowed us to identify the levers that structure a truly high performing replenishment process and to design models that combine responsiveness, accuracy and operational consistency.

Key challenges observed in the field

Our client engagements consistently highlight four major challenges:

1. Volatile demand across stores: Sales patterns evolve rapidly and differ significantly by location, making uniform rules ineffective.
2. Balancing stockouts and overstock: Maintaining high availability while reducing tied up inventory remains a delicate trade off.
3. Data volumes exceeding manual steering capacity: Daily updates of stock targets, parameter adjustments and variance tracking quickly exceed human capacity.
4. Lack of consolidated visibility on network needs: Without a reliable end to end view, upstream distribution and supply planning operate out of sync.

OneHive deliverables

Across our projects, we deliver a set of structuring components that secure the process and improve daily steering:

• ABC product classification with differentiated stock targets: Targets aligned with product rotation and criticality, enabling more relevant allocation and human focus.
• Advanced calculation algorithms with real time stock target updates: Dynamic adjustments incorporating recent sales, trends and business rules.
• Daily automated order generation with system interfaces: Secure and structured replenishment proposals without reliance on manual handling.
• Alerts on key indicators: Availability rate, stockouts, missed opportunities and stock levels, allowing rapid identification of critical signals.
• Short and mid term stock projections with associated distribution plans: Consolidated visibility to anticipate tensions, trade offs and future needs.
• Upstream demand signals: Clear inputs for production and procurement, improving global anticipation.

Benefits: measurable improvements for teams and the business

Results observed among our clients confirm the impact of a well structured, automated replenishment model:

1. Improved availability rate: Differentiated, daily updated stock targets deliver more stable and higher availability, with average gains of +5 to +10 points.
2. Reduced tied up inventory: ABC segmentation and automated target adjustments reduce excess volumes, with direct cash flow impact, typically around –15%.
3. Smoother, more responsive processes: Automated order creation and reliable allocation rules significantly reduce manual intervention.
4. Planners focused on analysis, not data entry: Alerts prioritise critical actions, freeing time for higher value decisions, often doubling analysis time.
5. Stronger coordination across the Supply Chain: Reliable demand signals and structured projections enable upstream distribution and supply teams to anticipate more effectively.
6. More harmonised stock across the network: Stock projections and rapid variance detection support better arbitration and reduce imbalances between stores.