InventoryOct 26, 2025
Case Study: How We Recovered €47K by Preventing Stockouts
In ecommerce, a stockout might seem like a small setback — but behind every sold-out product are lost sales, disappointed customers, and wasted margin. This is the story of a skincare brand that nearly lost its best month of the year — and how it recovered €47,000 thanks to automated alerts and smarter inventory management.
Table of Contents
Initial Situation
The company — a DTC skincare brand with over 1,500 active SKUs — had a strong seasonal pattern: 40% of annual sales occurred between April and July. The operations team managed inventory manually through spreadsheets updated once a week.
🔹 Baseline Metrics
Stockout rate: 9–11% of active products
Average replenishment time: 21 days
Estimated monthly losses: $18,000 (≈€16,700)
Manual hours spent on inventory: 10–12 h/week
The problem was clear: bestsellers kept running out during key campaigns, and the team could only react after losing sales.
“We knew we were losing money, but we didn’t have real-time visibility to act earlier.” — Operations Director
Actions Taken
The brand implemented Skymetrics to automate inventory alerts and forecast demand based on real-time data. Within one week, they went from reactive to predictive management.
🔸 1. Smart Stock Alerts
Using the Inventory Management module, they set predictive alerts 14–30 days before depletion. Alerts were configured by:
High-rotation SKUs (50+ sales/week)
Strategic collections (campaign products, high-margin items)
Suppliers with lead times over 15 days
💡 Formula used:
Alert = (Daily Sales × Lead Time) + Safety Stock (20%)
🔸 2. Dynamic Reorder Point
They replaced static reorder quantities with a dynamic model:
Calculated coverage in days per SKU
Defined an optimal reorder point based on demand, margin, and lead time
Built a live dashboard showing restock priorities
With the AI Assistant, the system automatically suggested:
When to place new orders
Which products needed extra stock
Which SKUs could safely wait without hurting sales
🔸 3. Budget and Inventory Prioritization
The finance team reallocated part of the ad budget toward inventory, guided by real-time demand alerts:
Reinforced top 10 ROI products
Paused low-performing or overstocked items
Synced pricing strategy to adjust margins dynamically
🔸 4. Automated Team Communication
Slack alerts were integrated so every time a SKU hit a critical level, notifications went directly to purchasing and operations. The result: no overlooked products — and much faster reaction times.
Results
After 30 days, the impact was clear and measurable.
📉 94% Fewer Stockouts
Products at risk were reordered early enough to stay in stock. From 140+ SKUs typically running out each month, only 8 products went out of stock the following period.
💶 €47,000 in Recovered Revenue
During the summer campaign, the brand kept stock available for its top-performing products, avoiding an estimated €47K in lost sales. After stabilization, recurring savings averaged $18K/month in retained revenue.
“We went from firefighting to forecasting. The difference was literally tens of thousands of euros.” — Operations Director (anonymized)
⏱️ 8 Hours Saved per Week
Manual work disappeared:
No more Excel exports
No more SKU-by-SKU checks
No more manual reorder calculations
Thanks to automation, weekly inventory management time dropped from 10–12 h to just 2–3 h.
📈 Overall 2-Month Impact
+18% higher net margin
+32% more accurate purchasing
–27% less capital tied in overstock
💡 Skymetrics Benchmark: Stores using predictive alerts keep stockouts below 2% and save an average of 8 hours per week in manual effort.
Lessons and Replicability
This case proves that effective inventory management isn’t about more meetings or spreadsheets — it’s about anticipation and visibility.
🔹 Lesson 1: Alerts Beat Reports
You don’t need 10 dashboards — just a timely alert before a SKU hits its critical threshold.
🔹 Lesson 2: Lead Time Rules
Coverage in days is a far better measure than fixed quantities. The longer your supplier lead time, the earlier you must act.
🔹 Lesson 3: ROI Applies to Inventory Too
Investing in low-performing stock is just as costly as unprofitable ads. Inventory decisions should factor in margin, velocity, and opportunity cost.
🔹 Lesson 4: AI Accelerates Decision-Making
The AI Assistant removes guesswork by automatically calculating thresholds, prioritizing SKUs, and recommending reorder actions. Result: 10× faster, data-driven decisions.
Book a Demo and Replicate This Playbook
You can apply the same method in your own store. Connect your Shopify data, activate predictive alerts, and start making inventory decisions that protect your revenue.
👉 Book a demo Reduce stockouts by 94% and recover thousands in lost sales each month.
FAQs
1. What types of stores can replicate this case?
Any ecommerce business with 50+ active SKUs or seasonal demand. Skymetrics works perfectly for fashion, beauty, electronics, and food brands.
2. How long until results appear?
Most stores see measurable improvements within 7–14 days of activating predictive alerts and sync automation.
3. Do I need technical knowledge?
No. Installation takes under 3 minutes from Shopify and runs automatically.
4. How can I get more case studies and strategies?
Subscribe to the Skymetrics Newsletter to receive real data-backed playbooks, benchmarks, and growth strategies.
👉 Book a demo and replicate this playbook step by step. Prevent stockouts, gain visibility, and turn your inventory into a profit engine.