Sally’s Sneaker Saga: Why Smarter Inventory Positioning is Your Supply Chain’s Superpower

Blog / Sally’s Sneaker Saga: Why Smarter Inventory Positioning is Your Supply Chain’s Superpower

Meet Sally. She’s excited. The season’s most-wanted sneakers just dropped, and she’s ready to order. She spots the perfect pair online—her size, her color, her style. But the price? It’s suddenly jumped 30% from last week. A victim of silent tariff hikes. Still determined, Sally continues her hunt. Finally—there they are again. She clicks “Buy Now.”

Out of stock.

The sneakers exist. Just not where Sally is, and not when she needs them. That’s more than a missed opportunity. It’s a classic inventory positioning failure—a challenge supply chain leaders know all too well.

For Sally, it’s frustration.
For your business, it’s lost revenue, declining customer trust, and a signal that something deeper is broken in your supply chain.

The Unseen Supply Chain Threat

Sally’s experience isn’t an exception—it’s happening every day, to millions of shoppers worldwide. And the cost for businesses? 

The drivers are complex:

• Tariffs and trade wars quietly altering product costs.
  
• Sourcing disruptions making long-established supply routes unstable.
• Volatile consumer demand turning forecasts into guesswork.

All of these affect one critical question:

Where should your inventory be, and in what quantity, to meet demand without costly overstock or disappointing stockouts?

The Real Cost of Poor Inventory Positioning

In today’s global economy, tariffs are more than headlines—they directly impact landed costs, sourcing strategies, and ultimately, your ability to deliver.

Let’s break it down:

• Tariff Surprises
  When a tariff spikes overnight, your entire cost structure shifts. Pass it on to the customer? Absorb it? Either way, margins take a hit.
  
• Sourcing Bottlenecks
  Relocating manufacturing isn’t simple. As one supply chain executive said:
  “You can’t replace 20 years of supply chain maturity with a new vendor overnight.”
• Demand Shocks
  Trending products (like Sally’s sneakers) can surge in demand without warning. Traditional planning tools can’t keep up.

So what happens? You either overstock in the wrong regions or stock out in the right ones both are equally damaging.

Inventory Positioning: The Supply Chain Power Lever

Inventory positioning isn’t just a tactical task it’s a strategic differentiator. When done right, it strengthens every link in your supply chain:

• Accurate Available-to-Promise (ATP): No more false promises to customers.
  
• End-to-End Inventory Visibility: Across warehouses, transit lanes, and regional hubs.
• Cost-Optimized Distribution: Responsive to real-time tariff and demand changes.

But most legacy systems weren’t built for this level of agility.

Say Hello to Planning in a Box – Pi Agent

Plan Differently. Act Real Time

Built on Google Cloud Cortex Framework, Planning in a Box – Pi Agent transforms your supply chain into an intelligent, self-correcting ecosystem.

With over 100 system integrations – from SAP and NetSuite to Salesforce and shipping systems – Planning in a Box creates a unified digital twin of your supply chain, backed by an AI-written data foundation.

At the core is Pi Agent – your AI-powered planning assistant. Always on. Always learning. Always optimizing.

Here’s what Pi Agent empowers you to do:

• Simulate Tariff Impact Instantly
  “How will a 15% import tax from Southeast Asia affect profit margins on our footwear line?” Pi Agent runs that analysis in seconds.
  
• Dynamically Reposition Inventory
  Detect regional demand surges and reroute inventory before it becomes a problem. Not after.
  
• Enhance Available-to-Promise Accuracy
  With inventory visibility synced in real time, your customer promises finally reflect reality—not hopeful guesses.
  
• Optimize Sourcing Decisions
  Analyze landed cost scenarios across global vendors. Understand not just price—but risk, lead time, and margin.
  

From Lost Sales to Customer Loyalty

Let’s rewrite Sally’s story with Planning in a Box – Pi Agent running in the background.

She sees the sneakers.
She clicks “Buy Now.”
They’re in stock.
They arrive in two days.

She’s happy. You made the sale. But more importantly you earned her loyalty.

Your business, meanwhile, preserved margin, avoided excess inventory, and adapted to market shifts all with confidence and speed.

Why It Matters Right Now

In today’s volatile market, inventory positioning is no longer optional – it’s your competitive advantage.

With Planning in a Box – Pi Agent, you can:

• Launch in weeks, not months.
  
• Start with one critical use case (like inventory positioning).
• Scale rapidly across planning and operations.

Ready to take the guesswork out of inventory planning?

Request a demo or Book a workshop to see how Planning in a Box – Pi Agent can help you turn uncertainty into opportunity—before the next disruption hits.