How does an OMS help avoid stockouts and markdowns?

A modern OMS avoids stockouts through ML-driven demand prediction, dynamic safety stock and Intelligent Rebalancer that moves inventory across nodes before promises break. It avoids markdowns through markdown-aware sourcing that steers orders toward aging or at-risk inventory before it needs to be discounted. Both capabilities protect gross margin by acting before the problem materializes.

Why It Matters: Stockouts and Markdowns are Both Failures of Prediction

For enterprise retailers, a stockout is a sale you couldn't make, and a markdown is a sale you had to discount to make. Both come from not seeing the problem coming. Blue Yonder Order Management uses ML to predict both—steering sourcing and inventory decisions ahead of the moment either would hit.

3 Ways an OMS Protects Margin from Stockouts and Markdowns

The capability spans the full range of predictive protection:

• Predictive stockout signals: ML flags likely stockouts across SKU and node combinations before they materialize, giving planners time to re-source, re-route or re-promise.
• Markdown-aware sourcing: Orders are steered toward locations holding aging or at-risk stock, drawing down inventory before it needs to be discounted.
• Dynamic safety stock: ML-driven buffers adjust continuously, protecting service level with less capital tied up in inventory.