How One Grocery Chain Cut Out-of-Stocks by 70 Percent

The Operations Podcast with Fexingo: Process, People, and Profit in Modern Business · Jul 30, 2026 · 8m · transcript

In this episode, Lucas and Luna examine how a national grocery chain systematically reduced out-of-stock rates from 8 percent to below 2.5 percent across 500 stores. The key was demand sensing—using point-of-sale data combined with weather and local event triggers to predict short-term surges. They also restructured their shelf replenishment process, shifting from a schedule-based model to a pull system triggered by real-time inventory dips. The episode breaks down the technology, the process change, and the people side: how store associates shifted from stocking by habit to stocking by…