# Stockout

> A stockout is running out of something a customer wanted to buy. The lost sale is usually the smallest part of the cost.

- Source: https://storestandards.com/glossary/stockout/
- Also called: Out of stock
- Updated: 2026-08-14
- Author: Ruth Alderman, Words, Store Standards

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They came for one thing. They leave with none of the four they might have
bought.

## The real bill

- The order you did not get
- The rest of the basket that went with it
- The customer who now knows a competitor stocks it
- Staff time spent apologising and chasing

That third one is the expensive one and it never shows up in a report.

## Phantom stockouts

The worst kind. The stock is on the shelf and the system says zero, so nothing
is ever offered for sale.

These come from bad [stock accuracy](https://storestandards.com/glossary/stock-accuracy/), from stock
booked in late, and from a delivery still sitting in the receiving bay because
[putaway](https://storestandards.com/glossary/putaway/) has not happened. Nobody reports them, because
no customer ever saw the product to ask about it.

## Where it goes wrong

Stockouts get counted as bad luck rather than as a signal. Each one has a
cause: the [reorder point](https://storestandards.com/glossary/reorder-point/) was too low, the buffer
was eaten, the supplier was late, or the number was wrong.

Write down which of those it was, every time. After a quarter you will know
whether your problem is buying or counting, and they need different fixes.

## Related terms

- [Reorder point](https://storestandards.com/glossary/reorder-point/): A reorder point is the stock level that tells you to order more, set so the delivery lands before you run out.
- [Safety stock](https://storestandards.com/glossary/safety-stock/): Safety stock is the extra you hold to cover the weeks when sales run high or a delivery runs late.
- [Available inventory](https://storestandards.com/glossary/available-inventory/): Available inventory is the stock a customer can still buy. It is what you hold on hand, minus what is already promised to other orders.