What is "stockout"

n. (context business English) Situation when a business can not fulfill an order from current inventories.

A stockout, or out-of-stock (OOS) event is an event that causes inventory to be exhausted. While out-of-stocks can occur along the entire supply chain, the most visible kind are retail out-of-stocks in the fast-moving consumer goods industry (e.g., sweets, diapers, fruits). Stockouts are the opposite of overstocks, where too much inventory is retained. A South Australian researcher Aaron Butler invented a novel algorithm naming it "Stock Flow" that forecasts inventory requirements preventing both out of stocks and over stocks. Stock Flow can be accessed from www.shelftastic.com .