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How to Catch Inventory Errors Before They Cost You
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Table of contents
The Trust Gap
Your system says one thing. Your shelf says another. In a business where precision matters — especially when dealing with high-value items like jewelry — that single missing unit isn’t just a minor glitch. It’s a signal. It creates doubt in your numbers, your team, and your next move.
That doubt compounds.
Because when you can't trust your inventory, you start making decisions based on guesswork. And that’s when the real damage begins.
Inventory Doesn't Break on Its Own
Discrepancies don’t appear out of thin air. Every mismatch between what’s in your system and what’s physically on your shelf is the result of something — an action, a habit, a gap in process.
These issues aren’t always obvious. Often, they’re embedded deep in the day-to-day, hiding in plain sight. Here are some of the most common root causes we see when jewelry brands come to us looking for clarity.
1. Memory-Based Operations
"I thought someone logged it."
When reorders, transfers, or returns live in someone’s head instead of inside a documented system, things get missed. A returned item might make it back into the drawer, but never back into inventory. A customer might request a rush hold on a piece that gets pulled but not deducted. These small actions, repeated over time, create big gaps.
2. Phantom Stock from Partial Receipts
"The delivery came in, but we were short."
Sometimes, your team receives 20 units but only logs 15. Or they get 15 but the system expected 20 — so someone forces it through to balance the PO. A week later, you’re wondering why you have 3 units too many. Or worse, 2 too few.
3. Cycle Count Avoidance
“We only count the easy stuff.”
It’s human nature — when time is short and the schedule is packed, staff gravitate toward the bins that are easy to count. That usually means skipping the high-value, small, or visually similar SKUs — exactly the ones that demand the most precision.
But skipping them doesn’t mean they’re right. It means mistakes quietly snowball for weeks (or months) before anyone notices.
Cycle counts only work if the hardest items get counted most.
4. Shrinkage by Neglect — Not Theft
"It was here yesterday."
Shrinkage doesn’t always mean someone stole something. In many cases, the item is simply misplaced: left in a shipping box, put in the wrong drawer, or mixed with a different style. Poor organization can look like loss.
5. When Software Creates a False Sense of Accuracy
"It’s in the system — it must be real."
Inventory systems are only as accurate as the people using them. If your team forgets to log a return or overrides a transfer to save time, your system becomes a false reflection of reality. Integrations with Shopify, POS, or ERPs can also create sync delays or mismatches if not tightly maintained.
The Real Cost of Discrepancy
When your inventory numbers lie, you make the wrong decisions. You reorder items you already have. You lose sales on items that are out of stock. You waste time looking for something that was never logged correctly to begin with.
The worst part? You stop trusting your system entirely. And when that happens, every decision becomes slower, more emotional, and more reactive.
There’s a Way to Catch It Early
You don’t have to wait until things break to fix them. In fact, there are proactive ways to catch discrepancies before they cost you.
We’ll cover those next in: “How to Catch Inventory Errors Before They Cost You”
— Our Insights
September 25, 2025
Inventory mistakes rarely start big. They show up as small inconsistencies. A single unit here, a mis-scan there. But over time, they compound quietly eroding profit, […]
September 25, 2025
The Trust Gap! Your system says one thing. Your shelf says another. In a business where precision matters — especially when dealing with high-value items like […]