Supply chain management

I never thought I'd utter those words, however I just have!
One of the biggest issues I face running a retail business is how best to manage my supply chain. In the instance of SocksforSir the supply chain is pretty simple - i.e. a chain of one - Pantherella. However, even in a chain of one things can be quite tricky. This is mainly due to the unpredictability of our orders and the need to keep a fairly low stock to ensure low-overheads and capital investment.

Anway, the overall problem is that from time-to-time I run out of stock, and face the embarassing issue of having to tell customers that their sock-delivery will be delayed. Most are OK with this - however there have been situations where it's led to disgruntled customers.

All in all it's quite an interesting situation - and one I'd love to know how the big retailers (e.g. Amazon and the like) deal with . . .