The "Spend Smart" report, produced by Epicor and IHL Group, analyses a study of 96 specialty‑retail brands to expose a widening inventory‑visibility gap that hampers profitability and growth. The gap stems from three inter‑related layers – inaccurate on‑hand counts, slow replenishment cycles, and fragmented sell‑through data across channels – all rooted in legacy point‑of‑sale (POS) systems, lack of micro‑services architecture, and missing unified data lakes. Retailers that have modernized their technology foundation before adopting AI project up to 80% higher profit growth and 85% higher profit growth for early adopters, while laggards see flat or negative growth. The report outlines a three‑phase investment roadmap (Foundation, Augmentation, Optimization) and highlights a stark organizational perception divide: executives expect modest workforce impact from AI, whereas store‑level managers anticipate major staffing changes. Data shows winners outpace laggards dramatically in sales (281% higher 2025 growth), profit (1,844% higher), and IT spend (up to 87% faster store‑level investment). Winning retailers prioritize POS modernization, mobile POS, loss‑prevention, and shelf‑intelligence, which together drive inventory accuracy, associate empowerment, and omnichannel readiness. The report concludes with a practical three‑phase roadmap to close the visibility gap, emphasizing inclusive planning, alignment of AI expectations, and cloud‑native, unified data platforms as prerequisites for AI‑driven optimization.
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The Inventory Visibility Gap as the Core Business Challenge
Defines the fundamental problem for specialty retailers – lacking real‑time, accurate inventory data across stores and channels – and quantifies its cost in stockouts, overstock, and reduced associate effectiveness.