Inventory Solutions for the Savvy Retailer. Any retail business owner will tell you. One of the most difficult aspects of starting out in the retail industry and growing into a profitable business is maintaining clear and concise access to their most vital data. As much as we’d love to be, not every businessperson is hyper-organized, flush with time, and a master multi-tasker. Inventory solutions can help alleviate this more popular business pain.
In order to keep costs down and get a competitive edge, retailers have to be thrifty — not only with buying and advertising their product, but with how they manage their inventory. It shouldn’t take an item to start flying off the shelves for you to take note. To stay on top of demand and ensure the best customer experience, businesses have to manage the ordering and storage of their inventory with precision. Here are the key components to inventory solutions any retail business needs to have in their pocket:
Inventory Solutions for the Savvy Retailer
Real-time tracking: Don’t get in the habit of using cumbersome systems and tasks like spreadsheets and manual entry to track your inventory, orders, and sales. It’s especially important in the beginning to keep everything automated, and track your inventory by specific custom fields like category or location. With an inventory management system that updates your data automatically, you worry less about the balance of your inventory and what your next steps should be. You lower the cost of labor by having an automated system, as fewer employees are needed on at hand to count and process items in the warehouse, field returns or drop ship orders.
Cloud-based backup: If the unpredictable should happen — and it does — a backup system is key to knowing the value of lost, stolen, or damaged inventory. Cloud based data ensures that if something should happen to your inventory, you can access your numbers in spite of the loss and get back on your feet quickly. If your systems are missing information, if they’re illegible or inaccurate, you have less to work with even when minor discrepancies occur.
Use on any and every device: You can’t be in the brick-and-mortar or on your laptop at all times. In order to keep an eye on your inventory no matter where you are, it’s important to have a system that is available on any of your devices — at any time. Nobody wants to be on the clock at all times, but it’s important to have a hold on where your inventory stands to avoid running out of a product or losing money on mistakes. Set up your software so that you can access via your phone, your tablet, or any computer so that you can make last-minute efforts if the situation calls for it.
Apart from having a product that’s in-demand and a lean and mean business model, profitable retail is all about organization, tracking, and being one step ahead of your inventory at all times. AccountingSuite offers inventory solutions suitable for any business. Check out what we have to offer your retail business here.
