Tariffs are hitting store inventory levels and sales floor operations as retailers are left to guess how much inventory to buy while grappling with staff shortages and unhappy customers, according to a report by GreyOrange, a provider of warehouse orchestration and store inventory management software.
In the survey of store managers that forms the basis for the report, GreyOrange found retailers are suffering widespread inventory issues and slow spending since tariffs were introduced in April.
Store managers surveyed stated several concerns, according to GreyOrange:
- 76% have seen an increase in stockouts or empty shelves.
- 59% maintained it has become more difficult to keep stock replenished.
- 78% have noticed customers shopping early for occasions such as back-to-school and the holidays or in larger quantities to mitigate potential shortages or price hikes.
- 24% of store managers can’t find stock that their systems have on-hand at least once a day and 63% run into this problem at least once a week.
- 77% have lost sales because they couldn’t locate stock quickly enough.
- 51% have reduced their workforce in the last six months.
- 59% of those who have laid off workers did so because of budget cuts, while 42% did so because of low sales.
- 36% have skipped or delayed daily store tasks because they’ve lacked the workers to complete them.
Retailers surveyed were 2.1 times more likely to say customers are spending less than to say the are spending more, GreyOrange pointed out. Responding store managers responded they received warnings from headquarters to expect price increases, noted by 50%, or shipping delays/reduced inventory, noted by 47%, because of tariffs.
Even with tariffs and staffing cuts, 47% of respondents said they’re more confident than last year about holiday stock availability, while 20% felt less confident. The July survey included input from middle and senior store managers in the United States.
