AI helps sellers predict demand and stock smarter Most e-commerce sellers I talk to are sitting on one of two problems: too much of the wrong stuff, or stockouts on the things that are actually moving. Sometimes both, at the same time, in the same warehouse. That's a forecasting problem, and it's been around longer than the internet. What's changed is that AI is genuinely useful now for shrinking it — if you use it for the right things. Where it earns its keep is in velocity

For about a decade, the prevailing wisdom was simple: carry less, move fast, trust your suppliers to replenish. Lean inventory was smart inventory. Then tariff rates on certain imported goods started jumping 15, 25, sometimes 145 percent in a single announcement cycle, and suddenly the cost of being lean wasn't theoretical anymore. It showed up on purchase orders. What that's done to inventory strategy is messy and real. Teams that were running 4-to-6 weeks of cover on key SK