Inventory Record Accuracy Summit 2026: Bold Ideas for Retail
Wrong inventory records lead to empty shelves, excess stock and lost sales. Previous ECR Retail Loss research has shown that correcting inaccurate records can boost sales by 4 to 11%.
Yet for many retailers, inventory record accuracy remains under-prioritised and inconsistently measured. That is precisely why ECR Retail Loss hosted its annual Inventory Record Accuracy Summit on 4-5 March 2026 at Red Bull Studios in London’s Covent Garden: to bring together the practitioners, researchers and brand partners working to change that.
Hosted by Red Bull, the two-day event brought together retailers, CPG companies and academics for a mix of new research presentations, retailer case studies, store visits and structured working sessions. The focus was innovation: new ways to think about counting strategies, store routines and the use of inventory data to drive investment in countermeasures.
What happened across the two days
Day one opened with a collaborative exercise in which each participant shared their top wins from the last 12 months alongside their ambitions for the year ahead, a format designed to get conversation flowing early. Unsurprisingly, there were a lot of common themes.
The academic team of Professor Dr Aris Syntetos (Cardiff Business School), Professor Dr Christoph Glock (TU Darmstadt) and Professor Dr Yacine Rekik (emlyon business school) then introduced their IRI maturity model, a practical framework that helps retailers assess where their business sits on the journey from firefighting stock errors to building genuine customer service capability.
Participants were invited to place their own organisations within the model and discuss where the biggest gaps lay. The afternoon shifted to Red Bull’s own operation, where the team shared where on-shelf availability and accurate inventory records sit within their corporate priorities, and how that strategy translates into ways of working with retailer customers. Attendees then headed out for store visits, returning to debrief in small groups on what was new, what was different and what they could take back to their own businesses.
Day one closed with a Dragons’ Den session, where Vusion, Retail Insight, Dexory and VCA pitched their inventory-related innovations to a panel of retailer judges. Some really strong ideas and innovations to help us all sell more and lose less.
We kicked off day to by looking in detail at our academic team’s research on predicting wrong inventory records. Specifically trying to work out how the research findings could be turned into practical store-level processes and embedded into daily routines. And then retailers and CPGs each presented their single biggest initiative to improve inventory accuracy or on-shelf availability, whether a new count strategy, a technology trial or a different way of using data.
After an exciting two days talking about the accuracy of data (which was much more interesting than it sounds on paper, honest…particularly when we’re looking at the scale of numbers involved) the summit closed with a reflections session in which participants revisited their original ambitions and updated them in light of what they had heard.
What attendees said
Feedback from this year’s summit was consistently positive. Attendees highlighted the blend of academic research and practical application, the value of peer-to-peer networking, and the rare opportunity to see inventory processes in action during the store visits.
Jack Ollerton, Accuracy & Loss Manager at Marks & Spencer, shared his three biggest takeaways from the 2026 summit:
“Predictive inventory solutions are coming thick and fast, a lot are unproven yet but having a strong basis of inventory accuracy is key to success alongside robust counting processes which are simple for stores.”
“External brands such as Red Bull, Unilever etc. are able to support you on your inventory accuracy journey with learnings from other retailers. It’s a win-win for you and them.”
“Sometimes less is more. There is a sweet spot to the amount of counts/recounts, which we will hopefully learn more on from Aris and co’s future work.”
His views were echoed by Martin Hasker, Shrink Operations Manager at Tesco, who said he particularly valued:
“Networking with other retailers on the topics of IRI and knowing we are quite advanced with IRI identification and resolutions”
“Hearing how other retailers are tackling IRI – what has worked and what hasn’t worked”
“Updates from academics and how machine learning is quickly advancing on how we can fix without manual counting.”
The research behind the summit
The summit builds on a decade of ECR Retail Loss research into inventory record inaccuracy led by Professors Syntetos, Glock and Rekik. The two most recent reports, both free to download, provide a practical roadmap for retailers:
- Defining and assessing inventory record inaccuracy tackles the measurement problem head-on, identifying eight distinct approaches and showing why inconsistency between them undermines benchmarking, target-setting and action. It includes a free spreadsheet for tracking IRI consistently.
- Inventory accuracy as a capability: building maturity and customer value moves from diagnosis to action, setting out 11 ways to build organisational capability and linking inventory record accuracy directly to customer satisfaction, sales growth and reduced shrink.
Both reports are grounded in 25 in-depth interviews with retail professionals across sectors, geographies and roles, validated through a workshop with 46 retail experts.
What comes next
ECR Retail Loss would like to thank Professors Syntetos, Glock and Rekik for their continued commitment to this research programme, and to Red Bull for hosting the 2026 summit. If your business missed out this year, or even if you do want to continue the conversation, there are two opportunities ahead.
The same academic team also runs inventory record accuracy training where the three Professors look at practical implications of their research. The 2026 IRI Training course in Cardiff on 9 and 10 December covers the drivers of stock record inaccuracies, how to articulate the business case for improvement, countermeasures to enhance accuracy, and how to use research insights in practice. It is designed for loss prevention, supply chain and operations leaders and uses interactive exercises and gamification alongside academic instruction.
Alternatively planning is already under way for the 2027 IRI/OSA Innovation Summit. Register your interest now to secure a place.
