Inventory Management Software for Retail Stores
Retail inventory management software tells a store owner which items sell, which sit, and how much to buy next. This page covers what the Statadventure Optimization Lab shows for retail stores, how it works from your point-of-sale exports, and how to try it.
What it shows for every item in every store
- Weeks of supply: how long today’s stock lasts at the forecast rate of sale.
- Sell-through over the last 90 days.
- GMROI: gross margin earned per $1 of inventory at cost.
- Stock that is not selling: items with no sale in 90 days, and slow movers with far more weeks of supply than you need.
- Items about to sell out before a reorder could arrive, and the sales at risk.
- Moves between stores: stock one store has spare that another is about to run short of.
- Open-to-buy by category: what you can spend on new stock each month for the next 3 months.
Stores and categories are compared side by side, so you can see which earns the most per dollar of stock. The full table downloads as a spreadsheet, and the findings go into a report you can print, share or e-mail.
Works from your point-of-sale exports
The Lab reads the CSV and Excel exports from Shopify, Square, Lightspeed and Clover. Three files are enough:
- your product or item list, with cost and retail price;
- stock on hand by store;
- sales by item, ideally for the last 12 months or more.
Stock exported with one column per store is split into stores automatically, and the product type or category comes across too. If a column is named differently, the Import page shows a preview, and you can download a template to match.
Open-to-buy, explained
Open-to-buy is the buying budget most stores plan by. For each category and month, the Lab works out:
planned sales + planned end-of-month stock − stock at the start of the month − stock already on order
Planned sales come from the forecast for each item in each store. The end-of-month stock is your target weeks of supply, which you set. A figure in brackets means the category already has more stock than it needs, so hold back orders until it sells down.
Learn the numbers behind Store health: the open-to-buy formula (calculator), GMROI (calculator) and sell-through rate (calculator).
Which plan fits a store
- Basic, $297 a month: one user and one workspace, with Store health, open-to-buy and the shortage radar. Enough for a single store.
- Planner, $850 a month: up to 5 users and every module, including the replenishment planner with suggested purchase orders and transfers between stores. Sized for up to 2,500 items and 3 locations.
- Growth, $1,947 a month: up to 15 users, sized for up to 15,000 items and 10 locations.
Pay yearly and save 20%. See the full comparison on the pricing page.
Start with the stock that is not selling
Stock that has not sold in 90 days is cash on the shelf. Marking it down, bundling it or moving it to a store where it sells is usually the quickest win, and it needs no forecast. Our guide on how to find dead stock shows a manual version you can run today.
More on inventory & replenishment
- Sell-through rate: formula, example and what is good
- Open-to-buy: formula, example and how to plan it
- GMROI: formula, example and what a good number looks like
- Fill rate vs service level: formulas and the difference
- Min-max inventory: formula, example and when to use it
- Clear to build: what it means and how to build the report
- What is MRP in manufacturing? A worked example
- How to find and clear dead stock
- ABC/XYZ inventory classification for small manufacturers
- What is a good inventory turnover ratio?
- EOQ vs MOQ: which order quantity should you use?
- Safety stock formula: three methods compared
Frequently asked questions
What is GMROI?
Gross margin return on inventory: the gross margin an item earned in the last 12 months for every dollar of stock you hold at cost. Above about $2 is healthy for most stores; under $1 means the stock earns less than it ties up.
What is sell-through?
The share of the stock you had that sold. The Lab measures it over the last 90 days: units sold divided by units sold plus units still on hand.
What is open-to-buy?
How much you can spend on new stock in a month and still end the month at your target weeks of supply: planned sales, plus the stock you want left at month end, minus the stock you start with, minus what is already on order. A negative figure means the category is overbought.
Does it replace my point-of-sale system?
No. Your POS keeps running the register and the online store. The Lab reads its exports and tells you what to reorder, mark down or move.
Can I try it on my own data?
Yes. In the live demo, choose Try it on your data and drop your exports on the Import page. The files stay in your browser tab: nothing is uploaded, and they are gone when you close the tab.
Want help setting up your store data?
Tell us which point-of-sale system you use and we will reply with next steps.