How Kiwi Outdoor Gear Reduced Stockouts by 85% with AI-Powered Inventory
From manual spreadsheets and frequent stockouts to automated inventory management and optimized sales—how Marcus Chen transformed his outdoor retail business with agentic AI.
Marcus Chen
Owner
Kiwi Outdoor Gear
About Kiwi Outdoor Gear
Kiwi Outdoor Gear is a Wellington-based outdoor equipment retailer specializing in hiking, camping, and adventure gear for New Zealand's outdoor enthusiasts. Founded by Marcus Chen in 2019, the business operates both a physical store and an online shop serving customers nationwide.
The Challenge
"We were constantly running out of popular items while overstocking slow movers. Manual inventory tracking in spreadsheets meant we'd discover stockouts only when customers asked. Lost sales were killing us, and excess inventory was tying up cash we needed for growth."
— Marcus Chen, Owner
Inventory Chaos
- • Manual stock counts taking 8+ hours weekly
- • Frequent stockouts on bestselling items (15-20% of SKUs)
- • $85k in excess slow-moving inventory
- • No visibility into reorder points or trends
Lost Revenue
- • Estimated $120k annual lost sales from stockouts
- • Customer frustration and lost repeat business
- • Reactive ordering causing rush shipping costs
- • No data-driven pricing or promotion strategy
The Solution
We deployed a suite of AI agents that automate inventory tracking, predict demand patterns, optimize reorder points, and provide real-time sales insights—transforming chaos into data-driven efficiency.
Smart Inventory Tracker Agent
Monitors stock levels in real-time across physical store and online shop, automatically syncing inventory between channels and alerting staff when items reach reorder points.
Demand Forecasting Agent
Analyzes historical sales data, seasonal trends, and external factors (weather, holidays, events) to predict demand for each product category and automatically generate purchase orders.
Dynamic Pricing Agent
Monitors competitor pricing, stock levels, and sales velocity to recommend optimal pricing strategies. Automatically suggests markdowns for slow movers and identifies opportunities for premium pricing on high-demand items.
Sales Intelligence Agent
Generates daily sales reports, identifies trending products, flags underperforming categories, and provides actionable insights for marketing campaigns and promotional strategies.
Implementation Timeline
Weeks 1-2: Discovery & Data Audit
- • Analyzed 18 months of sales data and inventory records
- • Mapped current workflows and pain points
- • Identified top 200 SKUs for initial rollout
- • Established baseline metrics (stockout rate, inventory turnover)
Weeks 3-6: Development & Integration
- • Built AI agents and trained on historical data
- • Integrated with existing POS and e-commerce platform
- • Set up automated alerts and dashboard
- • Tested forecasting accuracy with pilot SKUs
Weeks 7-8: Full Rollout & Training
- • Expanded to all 2,500+ SKUs across both channels
- • Trained staff on dashboard and alert system
- • Established weekly review process for AI recommendations
- • Began tracking performance metrics
Before & After
Before Automation
After Automation
Stockout Rate
18%
Stockout Rate
2.7%
Weekly Inventory Time
8 hours
Weekly Inventory Time
30 minutes
Excess Inventory Value
$85k
Excess Inventory Value
$22k
Inventory Turnover (Annual)
3.2x
Inventory Turnover (Annual)
5.8x
Results & ROI
Stockout Reduction
Saved Per Week
Annual Cost Savings
Additional Benefits
Recovered Lost Sales
Estimated $95k annual revenue recovered from eliminated stockouts
Freed Up Capital
$63k cash released from reduced excess inventory
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Product availability increased from 82% to 97%
Data-Driven Decisions
Real-time insights enable strategic purchasing and promotions
The AI system has completely transformed how we manage inventory. We went from constant firefighting—running out of bestsellers and drowning in dead stock—to having the right products at the right time. Our customers are happier, our cash flow is healthier, and I finally have time to focus on growing the business instead of counting stock.
Marcus Chen
Owner, Kiwi Outdoor Gear