15% Reduction in Excess Inventory and Improved Forecast Confidence
Meridian used StockIQ to isolate promotional spikes and unusual sales events, allowing a lean team to manage 2,000+ SKU-location combinations and eliminate costly third-party storage—all without relying on manual spreadsheets.
About the Company: Meridian is a premier South African wine and beverage distributor specializing in still wines, sparkling wines, and premium beverages. Founded in 1997, the company operates three regional warehouses with a central hub in Cape Town, serving retail, hospitality, and wholesale customers nationwide.
10–15% reduction in excess inventory carrying costs
2,000+ SKU-location combinations managed in StockIQ
Multi-region distribution across South Africa
Centralized demand and inventory planning team
The Challenge
When Promotional Peaks Distort Demand and Inflate Inventory
Meridian faced inconsistent demand driven by promotional activity and one-time sales events, which were being treated as baseline demand. Sales targets were built on historical peaks without separating true demand from exceptional events, leading to systematic over-ordering and a warehouse capacity crisis.
Promotional spikes embedded into baseline forecasts
Limited visibility into which sales were event-driven versus organic
Excess inventory overflowing 1,800-pallet capacity and requiring costly third-party storage
The StockIQ Solution
Cleaner Demand Signals Through Unusual Sales Detection and Event Management
Meridian implemented StockIQ to move from experience-based planning to a structured, data-driven process. The platform’s unusual sales detection and event management capabilities allowed the team to isolate promotional spikes and prevent one-time events from distorting baseline forecasts.
Unusual sales detection to identify and flag demand anomalies
Event creation and management to isolate promotions and one-time orders
Automated exception reporting across 770+ unique SKUs
Multi-level forecasting by SKU, category, location, and customer
The Results
Reduced Excess Inventory by 15% While Improving Forecast Confidence
With StockIQ, Meridian achieved measurable operational and financial improvements across their distribution network, including:
10–15% reduction in excess inventory carrying costs
More accurate sales targets based on true baseline demand
Elimination of expensive third-party storage requirements
Detect and isolate promotional demand before it distorts forecasts
Build realistic sales targets without inflated peaks
Provide suppliers with advance notice of large promotional events
Adjust procurement strategies in real-time to account for market volatility
“StockIQ has become a core function of our demand planning division. It’s really helped us with better data and stronger discussions with our sales teams and internal stakeholders.”
— Bernard Geldenhuys, Demand & Inventory Planning Manager, Meridian
Technology + Team Fit
Built for Real-World Planners, Flexible Enough for Human Judgment
StockIQ’s combination of automated detection and manual override capabilities allowed Meridian’s team to adopt the platform quickly and adapt it to their business realities. By cleaning historical data and automating the "heavy lifting" of exception management, the team can now focus on strategic refinement and supplier collaboration.
“The main reason we switched was functionality. StockIQ provides exactly what we needed, especially unusual sales detection and the ability to create events with better visibility and reporting.”
See How StockIQ Can Help You Optimize Inventory and Forecast Smarter
Whether you’re managing thousands of SKUs or scaling a lean team, StockIQ helps you plan with clarity and deliver results.
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