When retail research house IHL published its report in June on retail inventory losses — which is simply a combination of overstocks and out-of-stocks — it estimated an industrywide loss of $1.1 trillion. The problem is that IHL is not limiting itself to traditional metrics.

For example, IHL President Greg Buzek described a recent incident in which he went to a consumer electronics chain store, prepared to purchase more than $1,000 worth of products. The store inventory showed that the item and the desired accessories were all in stock at that store, but associates spent almost a half-hour searching and couldn’t find them. Sale lost by that chain, sale won by Amazon.

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