How Accurate Inventory Helped Pigeonhole Improve Cash Flow and Buying Confidence

Retail’s always been a game of margins, and in a landscape of rising costs, fragile supply chains and fickle customer habits, those margins are tighter than ever. For growing businesses like Pigeonhole—a popular lifestyle and gift retailer with seven stores across Australia—small operational inefficiencies can quickly become major financial liabilities.

But by switching to Lightspeed Retail POS, Pigeonhole didn’t just improve their operations—it transformed them, and the results speak for themselves: stronger cash flow, less stock held, better forecasting and a team empowered to make smarter, faster decisions.

Let’s dive in.

• The hidden cost of inaccurate inventory
• What accurate inventory unlocks for retailers
• How does inventory accuracy improve cash flow?
• Smarter buying with better forecasting
• Empowering store managers with real-time data
• Inventory accuracy also improves customer experience
• Scaling pop-ups without the stress
• Inventory optimisation isn’t optional—it’s foundational
• Ready to take control of your stock and scale smarter?

The hidden cost of inaccurate inventory

Before adopting Lightspeed, Pigeonhole’s original POS system was buckling under the pressure. With over 15,000 SKUs in circulation across multiple store locations, it simply couldn’t handle the scale of their retail operations.

“We started off with a basic cloud POS but it couldn’t handle the 15,000 SKUs that we had,” says founder Johann Kim. “I had a full-time team member whose job was just to organise stock transfers between stores—only after hours so the system wouldn’t collapse on us.”

They’re not alone. A lot of retailers still underestimate how much time, money and labour gets chewed up by bad stock visibility—especially when systems can’t sync in real time. 

And it’s not just about what’s on the shelf. 

Inaccurate stock levels create ripple effects that impact everything from cash flow and staffing, to customer satisfaction and reorder planning.

What accurate inventory unlocks for retailers

When Pigeonhole made the move to Lightspeed, everything changed. For the first time, Johann and his team could trust their stock levels—no workarounds, no crashes, no guesswork.

“Now that we can trust the stock levels in Lightspeed, it means that we don’t have to carry as much stock as we did previously,” Johann explains. “We have stronger cash flow, better forecasts and more confidence in what we buy and what we sell.”

And just like that, trust turned into tangible results:

• 40% less stock on hand, freeing up valuable capital
• A 141% increase in mailing list growth over 18 months
• Faster, smoother pop-up store setup and execution
• Store managers empowered to make data-led decisions without needing technical training

How does inventory accuracy improve cash flow?

At its core, inventory is money—frozen capital sitting on shelves. Every extra unit of stock you don’t sell is an extra hit to your pocket. Every out-of-stock item is a missed opportunity. So when your inventory data is inaccurate, you’re forced to overcompensate by overstocking ‘just in case,’ which slows your cash flow and ties up revenue that could be invested elsewhere.

With real-time stock accuracy, Pigeonhole finally stopped flying blind. 

No more over-ordering the wrong stuff or padding shelves. Instead, they could shift inventory between stores based on actual demand, making smarter buying decisions grounded in what was really selling—store by store, day by day.

This shift not only reduced waste but also helped the team avoid bulk markdowns that had previously been necessary to clear unsold surplus.

And with this tighter inventory behind them, Pigeonhole didn’t just save space—they saved money. Financial breathing room like this can give a business room to grow.

Smarter buying with better forecasting

But inventory isn’t just about what’s in stock now. It’s about predicting what you’ll need next.

Lightspeed’s advanced reporting tools allowed Pigeonhole to analyse sales patterns across all seven locations and make smarter buying decisions based on actual performance data—not gut instinct.

Lightspeed’s data also helps identify patterns that inform restock timing, merchandising layout and seasonal prep—especially useful for gift-focused retailers like Pigeonhole who rely on peak sales periods like Christmas and Mother’s Day.

Empowering store managers with real-time data

When your team can see the numbers clearly, they can act with confidence.

Before Lightspeed, store-level staff had to rely on head office for insights or deal with clunky, manual spreadsheets to figure out what was moving and what wasn’t. Now, Lightspeed’s built-in dashboards give each store manager the visibility they need to take initiative.

“Store managers now have all the data they need at their fingertips,” Johann says. “Without having to know how to use Excel.”

This not only improves day-to-day operations, but also helps build a more accountable, engaged team. Managers can take ownership, adjust merchandising and flag low-performing lines in real time. That kind of agility is a major asset in a competitive retail landscape.

Inventory accuracy also improves customer experience

It’s not just the business that benefits—their staff have benefited too. And when your team isn’t fighting against your platform, that ease has a tendency to trickle down to the customer level. 

With Lightspeed in place, Pigeonhole’s staff can:

• Instantly confirm product availability across locations
• Transfer or reserve stock on the spot
• Spend less time chasing numbers and more time helping customers

As Johann puts it, “Our team is more focused on the way our store looks, the music we play, the types of products we have and how they’re merchandised—everything that makes the experience fun.”

And fun matters. Customers remember stores that feel curated and well-run, not stores where staff fumble for answers or apologise for stock errors.

Scaling pop-ups without the stress

For retailers experimenting with temporary locations or seasonal pop-ups, inventory flexibility is everything. And Lightspeed delivers.

During the holiday rush, Pigeonhole ramps up operations by opening multiple short-term stores to capture peak demand. Lightspeed makes this a seamless process. 

New locations and registers can be set up in minutes, allowing their team to get up and running quickly. Staff onboarding is fast and intuitive, with minimal training required across different hardware setups. Behind the scenes, inventory can be transferred between stores and sales performance is tracked in real time across all locations, ensuring that every pop-up runs smoothly and profitably.

“We’re getting much better at organising for pop-ups with the help of Lightspeed,” says Johann. “It’s easier to train staff, set up registers and manage inventory—even when using iPads or laptops.”

This ability to move quickly, confidently, and cost-effectively gives Pigeonhole a major edge in capturing seasonal demand and testing new locations without overcommitting.

Inventory optimisation isn’t optional—it’s foundational

Whether you’re a boutique brand or a national chain, accurate inventory is the foundation of operational health. 

It influences every layer of a retail business—shaping cash flow, impacting staff productivity, informing supplier relationships, guiding customer satisfaction and underpinning effective forecasting and planning. 

Without trustworthy stock data, each of these areas becomes harder to manage, risking inefficiencies that can quietly erode profitability over time.

But most importantly—it affects your ability to scale with confidence.

Ready to take control of your stock and scale smarter?

Pigeonhole’s journey is proof that the right retail tech can fundamentally change how a business operates. By reducing excess stock, freeing up capital and giving teams real-time data, Lightspeed helped them not just grow—but grow wisely.

So if you’re still juggling spreadsheets, guessing at restock timing or holding onto dead stock just to be safe, there’s a better way.