Up Close: In Conversation with Ydistri CEO Roland Dzogan

Up Close is Sourcing Journal’s regular check-in with industry executives to get their take on topics ranging from personal style to their company’s latest moves. In this Q&A, Roland Dzogan, CEO of AI-powered retail inventory management solution Ydistri, discusses how retailers can more strategically offer wider assortments and why getting availability right is critical.

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Name: Roland Dzogan
Title: CEO
Company: Ydistri

Could you give a brief overview of your company?

Ydistri goes beyond forecasting to dynamically rebalance unsold inventory—“deadstock”—across locations based on real-time demand. With software that seamlessly integrates with existing systems, Ydistri has revolutionized inventory for clients in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, the U.K., EU and Central Europe since 2019. By predicting trends and intelligently redistributing inventory, Ydistri empowers retailers to increase sales, lower waste and navigate today’s landscape.

What should be the apparel industry’s top priority right now?

Manage the company based on the data and invest into retail tech.Technologies help to optimize the company to became more efficient, and this is the only way how to survive. Years ago, all the retailers were about to find the holy grail of 100 percent accurate forecasts, but factors affecting demand and supply are so fragmented, complicated and driven by so many combinations of random unpredictable events. A tool proposing the rebalancing—or redeployment—[of] goods from…where they are not selling to places where they are missing can keep the full price, avoid selling at discounts and uplift sales and profit and on the top of that improve customers’ satisfaction thanks to improved availability of goods in receiving stores.

What innovation or development holds the greatest potential to improve operations in the apparel and textile industries?

The tool helping to increase the availability of goods and avoid the waste. The assortment range is so wide that it is impossible to get the right products at the right places with first allocation. The customer is too picky and does not buy what is offered in stores if he does not like it. Sales are more driven by demand by even before.

How do you shop for clothing? How would you describe yourself as a fashion consumer?

Impulsive shopper. If I like it, I buy it. I never make an order if it is unavailable, even for a short time.

What are the top three product attributes that you factor into your purchasing decisions?

Design and quality, brand and availability in stores.

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What is a retail experience that stands out to you?

Availability of goods. Comparing U.S. stores to European ones, I must say that availability of goods in stores is by far worse than in the EU. Also, I do not understand the fact that U.S. retailers, since they are not able to manage so wide an assortment range and fragmented demand, they go the way of cutting the assortment instead of investing into technologies helping to manage such a wide variety. Based on experience, this is the way to hell because cutting assortment means the customers have less choices and can prefer online shopping where choices are still good enough.

How would you describe your corporate culture?

The group of people that want to change the retail world, make retail companies more efficient and customer experience better since we do it for us to enjoy the shopping as customers at the end of day.

What’s the best decision your company has made in the last year?

To go global and partner with the top retailers as well as tech companies including Microsoft and SAP.

What keeps you up at night?

That retailers having the worst inventory structure and biggest technology debt are hardest to convince.

What makes you most optimistic?

That we concluded with almost all major global retailers that smart and optimized redistributions are the way to navigate to better efficiency in the more and more unpredictable, fragmented demand as well as supply and other unpredictable events and their combinations. Based on results and delivered benefits with our customers, we see this is the way to go. It is like having the plane where the pilot decides the main direction but still has the stabilizing flaps helping to keep the course even in the turbulence.

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