Stockout
A stockout is the state of having zero sellable inventory for a SKU.
Why it matters for ecommerce brands
Stockouts lose sales and can hurt marketplace search ranking long after the item is back in stock.
Common questions
- How much do stockouts cost an ecommerce brand?
- Beyond lost sales, stockouts can push customers to competitors, waste ad spend driving traffic to unavailable products, and on marketplaces can lower a listing's ranking after it comes back in stock.
Cite this entry
"Stockout." Fulfillment Lexicon, last reviewed October 16, 2026. https://fulfillment.wiki/glossary/stockout/