Inventory Management Statistics (2026): 40+ Key Numbers

This page collects the most useful inventory management statistics for 2026 — every number sourced from published research and cited inline so you can quote it with confidence. We have grouped the figures by theme (market size, stockouts and overstocks, accuracy, carrying costs, shrinkage, forecasting and technology adoption, and Singapore and Southeast Asia specifics) and stated the data year for each. If a number matters to your decision, click through to the original source before you rely on it.

Top statistics

Global inventory distortion — the combined cost of out-of-stocks and overstocks — reached about US$1.77 trillion, of which out-of-stocks alone accounted for roughly US$1.2 trillion (The Food Institute, citing IHL Group, 2024).
US retailers lost US$112.1 billion to inventory shrink — about 1.6% of sales — up from US$93.9 billion the year before (National Retail Federation, 2023).
58% of retail brands and direct-to-consumer manufacturers run below 80% inventory accuracy (Unleashed, citing Fluent Commerce, 2024).
Holding inventory typically costs 20–30% of the inventory’s value every year (NetSuite, citing the Institute for Supply Management, 2024).
Excess stock grew to 38% of small and mid-sized businesses’ inventory (Netstock, 2024).
91% of supply-chain respondents plan to use AI or generative AI for demand forecasting within two years (ABI Research, 2025).
Gartner predicts 70% of large organisations will adopt AI-based supply-chain forecasting to predict demand by 2030 (Gartner, 2025).
Southeast Asia’s digital economy hit US$263 billion in gross merchandise value, up 15% year on year (Google, Temasek and Bain, e-Conomy SEA 2024).
The global retail inventory management software market was worth US$1.59 billion in 2024 and is forecast to reach US$3.20 billion by 2030 (Research and Markets, 2025).

Market size and growth

The global retail inventory management software market was valued at US$1.59 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach US$3.20 billion by 2030, a 12.36% CAGR (Research and Markets, 2025).
The broader inventory management software market is estimated at US$3.44 billion in 2026, rising to US$5.16 billion by 2031 at an 8.45% CAGR (Mordor Intelligence, 2026).
The Asia-Pacific e-commerce warehouse market is worth about US$14.28 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach US$19.12 billion by 2030 (Mordor Intelligence, 2025).

Stockouts and overstocks

Global inventory distortion — out-of-stocks plus overstocks — cost retailers around US$1.77 trillion (The Food Institute, citing IHL Group, 2024).
Out-of-stocks accounted for about US$1.2 trillion of that total, with overstocks adding roughly US$562 billion (The Food Institute, citing IHL Group, 2024).
Inventory distortion losses have fallen by about US$172 billion since 2022, but the problem persists (IHL Group, 2025).
Excess stock grew to 38% of the inventory held by small and mid-sized businesses (Netstock, 2024).
Among larger SMBs (500+ employees), overstocking rose to 44% of inventory (Netstock, 2024).
The average business carries around US$142,000 of excess stock (Unleashed, 2024).
Nearly 40% of retailers cancel at least 10% of their orders, often because promised stock is not actually available (Unleashed, citing Fluent Commerce, 2024).
Purchase orders rose 9% in early 2023 and surged another 16% ahead of the holiday season as businesses over-ordered against uncertain demand (Netstock, 2024).

Inventory accuracy and turnover

58% of retail brands and D2C manufacturers operate below 80% inventory accuracy — the threshold below which operational problems become near-certain (Unleashed, citing Fluent Commerce, 2024).
The average inventory turnover rate across sectors was 8.5 (Unleashed, citing CSI Market, 2024).
Global stock turns for small and mid-sized businesses averaged about 5.3 over the year (Netstock, 2024).
Total inventory value per company fell 9% year on year as businesses worked to unwind pandemic-era overstock (Netstock, 2024).

Carrying and warehousing costs

Inventory carrying costs typically run 20–30% of inventory value per year, covering capital, storage, insurance, tax, handling, shrinkage and obsolescence (NetSuite, citing the Institute for Supply Management, 2024).
Global warehousing property costs rose 10.1% in a single year, adding pressure to every carrying-cost calculation (Unleashed, citing Savills, 2024).
62% of supply-chain leaders expect to face labour shortages that raise the cost of handling and storing stock (Unleashed, citing KPMG, 2024).

Shrinkage

US retail shrink totalled US$112.1 billion, equal to about 1.6% of sales (National Retail Federation, 2023).
That was up sharply from US$93.9 billion the previous year (National Retail Federation, 2023).
Internal and external theft together accounted for nearly two-thirds (65%) of all retail shrink (National Retail Federation, 2023).

Forecasting and technology adoption

91% of supply-chain respondents plan to use AI or generative AI for demand forecasting within the next two years (ABI Research, 2025).
Gartner predicts 70% of large organisations will adopt AI-based supply-chain forecasting to predict future demand by 2030 (Gartner, 2025).
Yet only 23% of small and mid-sized businesses had actually invested in AI, showing how wide the intention-to-adoption gap remains (Netstock, 2024).
72% of SMBs cite lead-time variability as their top supplier challenge — the volatility that makes accurate forecasting so valuable (Netstock, 2024).

Singapore and Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia’s digital economy reached US$263 billion in gross merchandise value, up 15% year on year (Google, Temasek and Bain, e-Conomy SEA 2024).
Video commerce now drives about 20% of the region’s e-commerce GMV — a channel that stretches multi-marketplace inventory even thinner (Google, Temasek and Bain, e-Conomy SEA 2024).
The Southeast Asia cross-border e-commerce logistics market was worth US$8.07 billion in 2024 and is forecast to reach US$15.39 billion by 2030, an 11.14% CAGR (Mordor Intelligence, 2025).
Singapore’s e-commerce market is estimated at US$5.57 billion in 2025, rising to US$10.33 billion by 2031 at a 10.84% CAGR (Mordor Intelligence, 2025).
The region’s digital economy generated US$89 billion in revenue, up 14% year on year (Google, Temasek and Bain, e-Conomy SEA 2024).
Digital-economy profits reached US$11 billion, up 24% and 2.5 times the US$4 billion recorded in 2022 (Google, Temasek and Bain, e-Conomy SEA 2024).
Southeast Asia attracted over US$30 billion committed to AI infrastructure in the first half of 2024 (Google, Temasek and Bain, e-Conomy SEA 2024).

How WhiteBox helps

Many of the numbers above trace back to the same root cause: stock records that do not match reality across channels and warehouses. WhiteBox gives Singapore and Southeast Asian retailers one real-time source of truth for stock, orders and fulfilment across Shopify, Lazada, Shopee, Amazon and TikTok Shop, with forecasting and multi-warehouse control built in. See our inventory management guide for the fundamentals, or view pricing and start a free trial.

Frequently asked questions

What does poor inventory management cost retailers globally? Combined out-of-stocks and overstocks — known as inventory distortion — cost retailers about US$1.77 trillion, with out-of-stocks alone at roughly US$1.2 trillion (The Food Institute, citing IHL Group, 2024).

What is a good inventory accuracy rate? World-class operations target 95%+, yet 58% of retail brands and D2C manufacturers still run below 80% accuracy — the level at which operational problems become near-inevitable (Unleashed, citing Fluent Commerce, 2024).

How much does it cost to hold inventory each year? Carrying costs typically run 20–30% of the inventory’s value annually once you include capital, storage, insurance, tax, handling, shrinkage and obsolescence (NetSuite, citing the Institute for Supply Management, 2024).

How big is the inventory software market? The global retail inventory management software market was worth US$1.59 billion in 2024 and is forecast to reach US$3.20 billion by 2030 (Research and Markets, 2025).

Are retailers actually adopting AI for forecasting? Intention is high — 91% plan to use AI or generative AI for demand forecasting within two years (ABI Research, 2025) — but adoption lags, with only 23% of SMBs having invested in AI so far (Netstock, 2024).

Sources

Cite us: journalists, analysts and bloggers are welcome to reuse these inventory management statistics. Please credit WhiteBox with a link back to this page (https://whitebox.sg/inventory-management-statistics/) and cite the original source named beside each figure.