The retail industry is a complex network supply chain that is responsible for the movement of billions of products worldwide. Inventory management plays a crucial role in various factors for a retail company, such as revenue, inventory costs, product waste and the reputation of the company to their customers. Therefore, it is important that inventory is managed effectively in order to be successful. Inventory management has certain objectives that need to be attended. Since the beginning of the last century, there was much research done in the specific field. This paper acts like a tool for managers, in order to identify the main objectives of inventory management and also demonstrates methods and techniques that have been developed throughout the decades in order to introduce them in the optimal ways that inventory is managed.