via aws.amazon.com => original post link
In a perfect world retailers would never be out of stock, but unexpected demand can thwart the best intentions. Grocers are out of stock 8.2% of the time on average and as high as 15% for promoted items, putting $7-12B of sales at risk. The next best alternative is to offer a similar product that most likely meets the customer’s needs. By providing intelligent product substitution recommendations to the employee picking orders, we can enhance the customer experience and prevent lost sales.
In 2020, US online grocery sales grew 54% and over half of those orders will be out of stock for at least one requested item. The item can be skipped resulting in a lost sale, or the employee picking the order can guess at an alternative, which sometimes doesn’t meet the customer’s needs at all. In either case, the customer experience is adversely impacted, and the company brand is tarnished.