The most common mistake, says Mradul Jharkharia, Head of Supply Chain & Commerce at Fundly.ai, is treating the forecast as a final number. A better approach starts with proven demand by SKU and region, then adds festive uplift in stages as actual sales provide clearer signals, protecting stock for fast movers while treating short-window promotions with caution
Disciplined staging beats a single fixed forecast
Supplier capacity and lead times should be agreed early so teams can respond without one large, irreversible bet, with sales and stock cover reviewed weekly. A successful season, he notes, isn’t one without stockouts, but one that avoids carrying months of unsold inventory afterward.
The delivery promise as planning anchor
A delivery promise should function as a planning date for every team behind it, raising clear questions on when the product must reach the warehouse, clear quality checks and have materials available. Jharkharia points to cases where a delayed purchase order interrupted an otherwise available product. His fix is a shared plan built around order cutoffs, supplier commitments and a daily view of exceptions, with every function aware of at-risk orders while there’s still time to act.
Allocating inventory across channels
The harder decision in omnichannel retail, Jharkharia says, is how much stock each channel gets and when that changes. Quick commerce needs frequent, smaller replenishment; marketplaces need stock ahead of campaigns; retail needs consistent availability. His approach sets a base allocation per channel while holding back stock for unexpected demand, reviewed against sell-through, cover and transfer times, with batch age and shelf life factored in for festive packs.
Cold-chain export timing
For temperature-sensitive exports, the shipping window should guide the production schedule, not the reverse. Before a batch begins, the export order, packaging, quality release, reefer availability and documentation all need confirming, since producing too early only consumes shelf life while the product waits. He recommends a realistic buffer for clearance, monitoring temperature at every transfer point, and agreeing contingencies in advance for delays.
