UK Retailers' Christmas Gamble Fails as Stock-Outs Could Cost 1.87bn pounds Sterling in Lost Opportunities This Christmas

UK Retailers' Christmas Gamble Fails as Stock-Outs Could Cost 1.87bn pounds Sterling in Lost Opportunities This Christmas PR Newswire LONDON, Dec. 12, 2012 - New Research from CEBR Supported by NetSuite Reveals That Poor Demand Planning and Aging IT Systems are Driving Out-of-Stock Situations for Retailers in Vital Christmas Period Key findings: -- Retailers stand to lose 1.7 billion pounds Sterling to competitors this Christmas due to lack of product availability -- 147 million pounds Sterling may be lost to retailers altogether, as consumers are unable to purchase out-of-stock products -- Half of the top causes of stock-outs are entirely within the retailers' control: inaccurate demand planning, wrong retail channels mix and a lack of holistic view of the business -- 50 percent of retailers surveyed cite aging IT systems as their biggest challenge for order fulfillment this Christmas, while only 7 percent automate their entire order fulfillment process -- 72 percent of retailers surveyed plan to increase their spending on IT next year – yet only a third are including ERP or demand planning in these investments LONDON, Dec. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- A research report sponsored by NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP software suites, today revealed that UK retailers could lose an estimated £147 million of revenue this Christmas due to missed sales opportunities through out-of-stock products, and an additional £1.