5 Important Inventory Courses to Minimise Stockouts for Retail Operations Leaders

A well-managed inventory means constantly monitoring your stock, knowing when to predict demand, minimising product overstocking or damage, and improving sales. Explore these inventory courses and determine which will help you optimise stock to make customers trust your business. 

Inventory management is a key function in a retail operations strategy to satisfy customers and save daily expenses. 

To lead retail management, consider intermediate or advanced courses, focused on the function of inventory. 

These will supplement most supply chain management courses when considering switching careers or moving up the management level. 

Some of the credential-bearing courses on inventory we list today should be worth your investment and time. They come tailored to help you overcome nuanced Industry 4.0 challenges and fine-tune your inventory strategies.

You can take individual modules or full specialisations (Coursera), MicroMasters (edX), or ExpertTracks(FutureLearn) that further develop your overall leadership in retail. That, too, you develop a global perspective. 

See more of what they offer below. 

1. Inventory Management on Coursera 

This intermediate course on inventory goes deeper into the analytical aspect and helps you deal with market uncertainties. 

The primary learning goal?

You save on business spending through proven frameworks and concepts. 

Course Name	Inventory Management
Duration	4 hours
Provider	Coursera and University of California, Irvine
Cost	Coursera Plus monthly subscription of USD 49
Trainer(s)	Paul Jan
Skills Gained	Calculating reorder point, lead time, safety stock, and order quantity
Students Enrolled	8,787
Total Reviews	4.6/5.00 from 135 reviews

How does it help you evaluate and optimise stock?

This inventory course has four modules. 

First, you will get a foundation on steady-state demand for products, which does not fluctuate. This helps you, as a manager, differentiate from those that do fluctuate. Irrespective of either, you will apply calculations, including Reorder Point (Reorder point (ROP) = Average sales per day x Lead time + Safety stock) to replenish stocks timely. 

The next part of the learning covers how to reduce demand variability and minimise excessive stock, making retail operations smoother and more efficient overall. 

You will be using important supply chain frameworks, including the Newsvendor Model, which helps in finding opportunities for stocking when demand is uncertain. 

Further, if you want to learn more, you can take the Leverage Data Science for a More Agile Supply Chain Specialization. 

Coursera's Inventory Management Course Learning Outcomes

Overall, this course is useful in the following areas.

• Improving inventory accuracy
• Optimising inventory levels
• Making supply chain efficient

2. Supply Chains for Manufacturing: Inventory Analytics on edX

This course is an advanced one that requires an excellent academic and practical understanding of operations or engineering. 

Ideal for manufacturing industry professionals, this course would add good learning value for those with an engineering degree who have taken intermediate operations management courses. 

Course Name	Supply Chains for Manufacturing: Inventory Analytics
Duration	9 weeks
Provider	edX and MITx
Cost	Free to audit without the certificate
Trainer(s)	Stephen Graves and Sean Willems
Skills Gained	Supply chain analysis, supply chain integration

How does it help you evaluate and optimise stock?

The course covers these areas of managing inventory through the supply chain.  All these topics come with case studies and exercises.

Concepts such as Risk Pooling and Inventory Placement will help you work on the spatial aspect. These frameworks help in optimising where inventory is located.

At the same time, aspects, including Integrated Planning, Collaboration, and Information Sharing will help you focus on improving communication and coordination across the supply chain. These are essential in real-world scenarios. 

Also, you will develop a strong understanding of Delayed Differentiation and Smoothing. 

With concepts such as delayed differentiation, you, as a manager, will learn how to postpone the customisation of a product until the final stages of production to meet customer demands more accurately. On the other hand, smoothing will help you learn how to balance the production speed according to the demands. 

Also, this course is part of the MicroMasters® Program in Principles of Manufacturing. You may go for that after this. 

edX's Supply Chains for Manufacturing: Inventory Analytics Learning Outcomes

The course is going to be extremely useful in meeting these criteria. 

• Making the supply chain more resilient
• Keeping customers satisfied and loyal
• Building a competitive advantage

If interested, check the dates when this course will start again on the official website. As of now, it’s archived. You can watch the videos when you enrol now, but assignments are unavailable. 

3. Inventory Management and Economic Order Quantity on FutureLearn

Learn inventory management from an international logistics perspective with this Coventry University and FutureLearn course. 

Course Name	Inventory Management and Economic Order Quantity
Duration	2 weeks
Provider	FutureLearn
Cost	INR 900/month
Skills Gained	Inventory Management Techniques

How does it help you evaluate and optimise stock?

This inventory course introduces you to two essential inventory frameworks: economic order quantity (EOQ) and the Bullwhip Effect. 

You learn about EOQ as a method to reduce inventory costs. This happens by balancing orders that contributes to holding costs. While with the bullwhip effect, you would gain a footing on increasing demand variability as you move up the supply chain.

The second part of this course focuses on Vendor-Managed Inventory (VMI) and Efficient Consumer Response (ECR). These will help you understand the challenges of implementing these approaches and how you can develop a customer-focused supply chain.

To enhance your retail operational strategy, you can continue after this with the  International Logistics ExpertTrack, which Coventry also offers. 

FutureLearn's Inventory Management and Economic Order Quantity Learning Outcomes

Key areas of learning here include

• Improved supply chain performance
• Enhanced customer satisfaction
• Stronger supplier relationships

4. CIOP on Fhyzics and IISCM

Fhyzics is an Authorized Channel Partner (ACP) for the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM/APICS). It also offers virtual training for the CIOP (Certified Inventory Optimization Professional) certificate. 

Supply Chain Analysts, Inventory Analysts, and anyone interested in developing expertise in inventory should take this. Its lifetime validity is ideal for some. 

This certification exam prep consists of the Inventory Management Body of Knowledge v3.0 training with practice tests. 

Course Name	CIOP
Duration	2 weeks
Provider	Fhyzics
Cost	INR 35,000
Skills Gained	Certification prep, supply chain in different types of industries

How does it help you evaluate and optimise stock?

It contains 30 modules in inventory management from beginner to advanced levels. 

Concepts like Six Sigma, total quality management, and supply chain technologies will help optimise processes and reduce costs. 

You will be equipped with knowledge of Industry 4.0, international standards, and safety and security.  Also, you can apply concepts and practices that optimise inventory levels, make transportation efficient, and reduce waste.

Fhyzics' CIOP Training and Learning Outcomes

Once you get CIOP-certified, you will lead the inventory management function in retail operations in these areas. 

• Identify and eliminate inefficiencies through process optimisation
• Reduce costs overall in the supply chain and daily operations
• Provide better customer satisfaction with competitive prices and faster delivery
• Be prepared for future supply chain challenges

5. Applied Operations Management - Inventory Models on Alison w/NPTEL 

Alison has partnered with NPTEL to offer this course on the applications of operations management. 

If you compare FutureLearn’s offering in this list, this course also covers the EOQ (economic order quantity) inventory model in more detail. The goal is to help you learn how this model in combination with others can help minimise inventory holding costs. 

Course Name	Applied Operations Management - Inventory Models
Duration	4 hours
Provider	Alison w/ NPTEL
Cost	Free to enrol but has a paid assessment-based certificate and accredited CPDs
Trainer(s)	Mr. Pankaj Mane
Skills Gained	EOQ model application, cost reduction, bookkeeping
Students Enrolled	16,993

How does it help you evaluate and optimise stock?

The course covers essential business knowledge on managing inventory efficiently. 

It focuses on concepts such as materials management, components of order and backorder costs, and EOQ. 

You will learn a data-driven approach for quantitative analysis and understanding risks to develop informed inventory strategies. This kind of applicable learning significantly supports the decision-making process. 

Alison and NPTEL's Applied Operations Management - Inventory Models Learning Outcomes

Upon completion and assessment, this inventory course from Alison will help in the following areas.

• Optimise inventory levels
• Streamline operations
• Mitigate risks

Which Inventory Course is Best for Leaders in Retail Operations?

If you are seeking a comprehensive overview of inventory management principles, choose Coursera’s inventory course. It offers a strong foundation in analytical techniques and practical applications. 

While edX’s course on inventory is for advanced learners with a background in operations or engineering.

If you prefer a more concise and affordable option, FutureLearn and Alison should be ideal.

Or, when you aim to earn a recognised certification, CIOP comes with a rigorous online exam preparation programme. 

Other than that, if you are handling inventory in the digital space and probably know about SAP, check the SAP MM courses. These are for supply chain professionals and provide comprehensive certification training on inventory and the SAP ecosystem.