10 Two retail managers who had been at university together, Rosanne and Abeke, were having dinner together. ‘It’s such a coincidence that we both went into garment retailing’, said Rosanne, ‘but at the moment I’m having real problems getting repenishment stocks from our central warehouse. The margin we make is so small that we can’t afford to be out of stock for long, or our profits suffer’.

Abeke had a different problem, she said. ‘That isn’t much of a problem for me. You sell casual wear with a strong brand, but low margins. Your customers will return later if something is out of stock. I sell fashion garments with far higher margins, but clothes that are essentially an impulse buy. If I fail to sell something because it’s not in stock, a lot of potential profit walks out of the door’. How do you think inventory practice should differ for the operations that the two friends work for?