Did you know that 34% of businesses have shipped an order late because they mistakenly ended up selling a product that wasn’t in stock? Not only that but a lot of businesses overstock themselves because they aren’t performing proper inventory control.
If you have an online store, eCommerce stock control has to be a priority for you. Keep reading to find out 4 ways you can start managing stock better.
1. Do Inventory Control Based on Past Sales Data
Don’t make up numbers or figures or manage your stock using hypothetical forecasts. If you have been in business for a few months already, you should have some data on what sells when. Use that past sales data to manage your eCommerce stock, as it will be more accurate than any other data you might conjure up.
Also, as time passes by, you will gather more and more data and that should make your sales forecasting and inventory management more accurate as well.
2. Set a Minimum Stock Level
If you are working with a wide variety of suppliers from all over the world, then you will need to know the lead times for delivery for each of these suppliers. To avoid delays in shipping items over to your customers, always keep a minimum level of eCommerce stock in inventory. As soon as your stock goes below this minimum, reorder right away.
3. Regularly Audit Your Ecommerce Stock
No matter how much you train your staff, they are going to end up making mistakes in labeling, sorting, and storing inventory. That’s why it’s important to spend time every month or every quarter auditing your eCommerce stock. This should give you a great idea of where your inventory is at and how ready you are for an upcoming busy shopping season.
4. Use an Inventory Management Software
A lot of American businesses end up doing inventory manually. But that’s not truly ideal.
If you wish to manage your inventory in a professional fashion, it’s better to get an inventory management system like smartwarehousing.com to help you out. It gives you greater visibility over what stock you have and better control over sales.
Inventory management software will also give you real-time insight into your eCommerce stock, which means you can avoid inventory delays or mistakes, and get the right product to your customer at the right time.
Stock Management Won’t Take Care of Itself
With so many things on your plate as an online business owner, you are probably already overloaded and overextended. But with proper eCommerce stock control, you can spend less time chasing returns and shipping delays and more time on improving sales and building customer satisfaction.
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