Inventory Management Statistics You Need to Know in 2026

Named sources and year for each figure—definitely confident citations.

Key Inventory Management Statistics

Combined one-stop headline inventory data from the analyst firms, primary survey & industry research.

1. Retailers worldwide lose an estimated $1.7 trillion a year to inventory distortion—the combined cost of out-of-stocks and overstocks. (Source: IHL Group, 2025)
2. Forecasting errors in the supply chain can be reduced by 20-50% with the assistance of AI-based forecasting. (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2022)
3. In 2024, U.S. retail returns reached $890 billion which is about 16.9% of U.S. retail sales. (Source: NRF & Happy Returns 2024)
4. U.S. retail shrink totaled $112.1 billion, or 1.6% of sales, in 2022. Data provided by NRF National Retail Security Survey 2023.
5. 58% of warehouse leaders are expecting to use RFID by 2028. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023)
6. The Global inventory management software market is expected to be worth $5.52 billion by 2034 at 9.13% CAGR. (source: Fortune Business Insights, 2026)
7. 7 out of 10 warehouse associates and decision makers agree that inaccurate inventory and out of stocks are a major challenge to productivity. This is based on the Zebra Warehousing Vision Study (2023).
8. With advanced demand forecasting, AI can help to minimize inventory by 20-30%. (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2021)

Market Size and Growth

A detailed analysis of the present inventory management software market and what analyst predictions are for it.

1. In 2026, the most common deployment model for inventory management software will be SaaS/cloud. (Source:Future Market Insights, 2026)
2. More than 7 in 10 companies are moving their inventory management system to the cloud to make it more scalable and cost effective. (Source—Future Market Insights – 2026)
3. The value of the global warehouse automation market was estimated at USD 31.21 billion in 2025. The market is expected to expand from USD 36.24 billion in 2026 to USD 119.86 billion by 2034 at a CAGR of 16.13% over the forecast period. (Source: Fortune Business Insights, 2026)
4. The top markets for inventory management software market are North America, Western Europe and South Asia & Pacific. (Source: Future Market Insights, 2026)
5. According to another prediction, the inventory management software market size will reach around $2.75 billion in 2026 and is expected to escalate to $5.52 billion in 2034 with a CAGR of 9.13%. Fortune Business Insights, 2026)

Note: Market-size estimates vary from firm to firm because of the varying definitions of the software category. Any article about the sector is useful background for the spread.

The Accuracy of Inventory and Stockouts

It’ll cost you twice to be off the mark.

1. 80% of warehouse associates and decision-makers say inaccurate inventory and out-of-stocks significantly challenge productivity. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study, 2023)
2. 82% of associates working in a warehouse believe there is a need to enhance inventory management systems to ensure “product in & product out. Please note: The data in this report is from the Zebra Warehousing Vision Study, 2023.
3. 76% of warehouse decision makers say they are seeking better tools to help manage inventory. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study, 2023)
4. AI forecasting can cut down on product out of stocks by up to 65%, reducing wasted sales. (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2021)
5. Out-of-stocks alone account for about $1.2 trillion of global inventory distortion; overstocks add roughly $554 billion. (Source: IHL, 2024)

Technology and Automation

The adoption rate, platform changes and the investment technologies warehouse and retail leaders are embarking upon.

1. 58% of warehouse leaders are anticipating the use of RFID by 2028. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023)
2. 69% of warehouses are already automated or intending to. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023)
3. 52% of warehouse decision makers are already looking to use machine learning solutions by 2028. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023)
4. 59% of people are projected to be using predictive analytics software by 2028. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023)
5. 91% of decision-makers plan to invest in technology to increase supply-chain visibility by 2028. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023)
6. 88% agree that warehouse technologies are aiding in attracting and retaining employees. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023)
7. 89% of retailers are putting AI in place or actively evaluating AI. Data from NVIDIA’s State of AI in Retail and CPG, 2025.
8. 97% of retailers will be investing more in AI. (Source: NVIDIA, State of AI in Retail & CPG, 2025)

The Costs of Carrying and Shrink

Where does the inventory go when it is put in the back room, walks out the door and is lost in the count?

1. The average U.S. retail shrink rate rose to 1.6% of sales in 2022, up from 1.4% in 2021. (Source: NRF National Retail Security Survey 2023)
2. The estimated retail shrinkage amount in 2024 is about $132 billion, up from about $112 billion in 2022, and the average rate of retail shrinkage is about 1.44%. (Source: Invue, 2024)
3. An estimated 36% of retail shrink is due to external theft. According to the NRF National Retail Security Survey 2023, this is the case.
4. About 29% of retail shrink is internal / employee theft. (Source: NRF National Retail Security Survey 2023)
5. Retail shrink can be caused by process and administrative mistakes, which typically represent approximately 27% of shrink. (Source: NRF National Retail Security Survey 2023)

E-commerce and Returns

Now the other inventory problem is back on the market, added to the growing inventory problem.

1. An estimated $247 billion in online purchases were returned in 2024, accounting for 17.6% of the total number of online purchases. (Source: NRF Consumer Returns in the Retail Industry 2023).
2. Approximate 10.02% of brick-and-mortar purchases were returned which is about $371 billion. (Source: NRF Consumer Returns in the Retail Industry 2023)
3. The overall return rate rose from 14.5% of sales in 2023 to 16.9% in 2024. (Source: NRF & Happy Returns, 2024)
4. 76% of warehouses are challenged to perform when trying to meet the demands of e-commerce. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023)
5. 50% of warehouse decision-makers cite returns management as their top operational challenge — up 10 percentage points year over year. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study, 2023)

The ROI of AI and Automation

AI has helped in operational improvements, with predictions and management of stocks.

1. Forecasting errors in the value chain can be cut by 20-50% by using AI forecasting. (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2021)
2. It helps cut down on lost sales and product unavailability up to 65%. (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2021)
3. Reduces overall inventory 20-30%. (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2021)
4. The cost of warehousing can be cut by 5-10% with AI power supply chain management. (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2021)
5. As a result of using AI supply-chain management, administration expenses can be reduced by 25-40%. (Source: McKinsey & Company, 2021)

Future Projections

What analysts and warehouse leaders believe will be the future of inventory technology in 2036.

1. The inventory management software market is expected to grow at 9.94% CAGR and could attain a market size of $10.5 billion by 2035. Source: Business Research Insights, 2026.
2. 91% of warehouse decision makers will spend on supply-chain visibility technology by 2028. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study, 2023)
3. The proportion of organizations doing public Internet deployments by 2028 is 3.58%, while 52% intend to implement machine learning by 2028. (Source: Zebra Warehousing Vision Study, 2023)
4. By 2028, the number of people who are expected to use predictive analytics software is 59%. The Zebra Warehousing Vision Study 2023 (Source)
5. 97% of the retailers are set to increase their investments in AI in the future. AI in Retail and CPG: State of AI in the world’s largest consumer goods and food companies, 2025 (Source: NVIDIA)

What This Means for Growing Businesses

The headline numbers above describe retail at an enterprise scale, but the pattern repeats—often more painfully—for the small and mid-sized retailers, wholesalers, and e-commerce sellers we work with every day. A 1.6% shrink rate or a 16.9% return rate is survivable for a big-box chain running on thin but stable margins; for a growing business, those same percentages can wipe out a quarter’s profit. Here is how we read these trends in practice:

• Accuracy beats sophistication: Most of the loss above — distortion, stockouts, miscounts — traces back to one root cause: inventory records that don’t match reality. You don’t need AI to fix that first; you need a single source of truth across every location, channel, and sales platform. The businesses that struggle most are usually still reconciling a spreadsheet against a POS against a Shopify store by hand.
• Multi-channel makes accuracy non-optional: A 16.9% return rate and the shift to omnichannel mean stock is moving in two directions across several channels at once. Real-time, centralized tracking stops being a “nice to have” the moment you add a second sales channel or a third storage location.
• AI is a multiplier, not a starting point: The 20-50% forecasting gains McKinsey reports are real — but they compound on top of clean data. A demand model trained on inaccurate stock history just automates the wrong answer faster. Make counts trustworthy first; layer forecasting and automated replenishment second.
• Returns are now an inventory discipline:  With nearly one in six purchases coming back, returns can’t be an afterthought handled at the edge of the warehouse. Restocking speed and condition-grading directly decide how much of that $890 billion a business recovers versus writes off.

For a growing operation, the goal isn’t to match a Fortune 500 tech stack — it’s to close the accuracy gap that quietly drives most of these losses, then add automation where it pays back fastest: replenishment, multi-location visibility, and returns handling.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s)