Did you know that 46 percent of small businesses don’t track their inventory? Inventory management is a vital part of running a successful warehouse or a successful e-commerce business. Your customers won’t be happy with your business if you’re selling products that you don’t have in your inventory.
Getting retail inventory management software is a great investment and a step in the right direction if you want to stay on top of how many products you have in stock and when to order more. You’ll always know how much of every item you have, which will make running your supply chain much easier.
The good news is that you’ve found the right article to learn all about the ways in which software for inventory management will benefit your business’s operations. Keep reading for some helpful tips today!
Make Your Inventory a Priority
Odds are that you have a good idea about which items or products are best sellers and which ones aren’t. That information is great because it allows you to organize and manage your inventory. Look at classifying your different products into A, B, and C classes to make organization easier.
The A-class items are ones that are more expensive and that sell slower, so you won’t need as many of them. Your C-class items are the ones that sell quickly and that you need to manage your supply chain more with. Anything that falls in between those two classes gets categorized as B-class items in your inventory.
Track Your Product Inventory
You also need to come up with a system to track each item in your inventory. Barcodes are a great option if you want a quick and efficient way to track your products when they enter and leave your facility. These barcodes also make it easy to check how many of each item you have sitting in inventory.
It might not seem like a big deal, but having this information at your disposal makes it much easier to run your business. You can automate many of the tasks and get alerts that remind you that you need to order more products.
Run Plenty of Audits
Audits are a wonderful thing when you’re working in retail inventory management. Inventory management softwares help, but running audits is the most effective way of making sure that your inventory is accurate. It’s up to you to decide how often you want to run these audits, but you should run at least one major audit each year for the best results.
Combining your regular audits with online inventory management software will help you stay one step ahead of your competitors. It will also ensure that you have happy customers since you’ll always have your top-selling items in stock for them to purchase and enjoy.
Analyze Your Suppliers
Your supply chain will also play a big part when it comes to your inventory management. Always remember to analyze your suppliers even after you hire them and start working with them. It’s important that your suppliers can meet the demand for your items.
If you notice that your suppliers can’t keep up with the number of products that you need then it’s a good idea to start spreading your network. Taking this step makes it much easier to fill any gaps between supply and demand for your business.
Unreliable suppliers will make it a nightmare to continue running your business. Don’t be afraid to discuss the issues that you’re facing with your supplier in an effort to get them sorted out. If they can’t get the issue resolved then it’s time to start exploring your other options for suppliers.
Use the 80/20 Rule
If you have experience with retail inventory management then odds are that you’ve run into the 80/20 rule. This rule dictates that 80 percent of your revenue comes from 20 percent of your inventory. Always make sure that you’re prioritizing that 20 percent of your inventory that is bringing home the bacon for your business.
Learn about the sales lifecycle for these items by looking at how many of them you’re selling on a weekly or monthly basis. Your inventory management software should make it easy to generate reports showing your sales statistics for each SKU in your inventory. Since these are the products that make you the most money, you should put your alerts on them so that you know when to purchase more from your suppliers.
Track Your Sales
Tracking your sales is another essential task that you need to take care of when it comes to inventory management. Getting retail inventory management software is a wise move because it will help you track how many items you’ve sold at the end of each day. It will also generate and help you analyze the data behind those sales.
It’s important because it will help you understand if the sales that you’re getting are based on seasonal demand or a change in the market. You can then use that information to your benefit and order more of the products that sell during those high points in the season.
Use Integrative Technology
You need to make sure that any inventory management software that you purchase integrates with your existing systems. Integrative software makes everyone’s life easier, especially if it works well with your existing accounting software. You’ll avoid a ton of headaches if you make it a priority to purchase integrative technology for your business’s needs.
Invest in Retail Inventory Management Software Today
Inventory management is a crucial part of running any business that sells goods or products, so it’s a good idea to purchase the best retail inventory management software for your e-commerce business. Aim for a software system that is integrative for an easier transition, and make sure that you’re running audits throughout the year. You should also try to abide by the 80/20 rule for your inventory management.
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