Inventory is central to a retail business. What you stock affects what sells, which in turn affects cash flow. And cash flow determines how confidently you can grow. Yet many retailers are still managing inventory with manual tools or disconnected systems that weren’t built for today’s retail environment.
Square surveyed 927 retail and food and beverage businesses to understand how inventory is managed today — what’s working, where retailers struggle most, and what changes as businesses grow. The findings show a clear pattern: most retailers start tracking inventory early, but as product ranges expand and sales channels multiply, inventory decisions become harder to manage without better visibility.
This guide explores why inventory management matters more than ever and how connected tools can turn inventory from a daily headache into a strategic advantage.
Here’s what you’ll learn inside:
- Why inventory decisions are financial decisions and how stock missteps quietly impact cash flow and profitability
- The most common inventory challenges retailers face today and why they’re harder to solve as businesses grow
- The key moments that signal it’s time to upgrade inventory tools, even if your current system still feels good enough
- How successful retailers use inventory data to guide decisions, including what to reorder, discount, or remove
- What connected inventory looks like in practice, with real examples of businesses using Square to stay stocked and in control
- How inventory, sales, and banking work together to support more predictable cash flow
If your business is growing, selling across multiple channels, or struggling to turn inventory data into confident decisions, this guide will help you see what’s possible with the right system in place.
