Goal: Improve Your Inventory Management

Inventory that isn’t diligently tracked and managed can create big headaches for ecommerce vendors. Many businesses rely on an all-inclusive inventory management system, or combinations of inventory management software tools, to handle essential needs. But unless you zero-in on the causes behind your inventory issues and address them, those tools can only help to a point. Here are some of the most common inventory management problems and some tips for resolving them.

Inventory Levels

Inventory directly impact your overhead expenses and your revenue. Excess inventory takes up warehouse space and ties up working capital, while stockouts can contribute to a decrease in sales and an increase in dissatisfied customers. To ensure your inventory levels are healthy and profitable, it’s useful to know the optimal inventory level your business requires to avoid those issues – down to individual SKUs (if possible). By keeping close tabs on the changes in your inventory levels with daily stock checks, you’ll be able identify recurring supply issues and get your inventory levels to the right size.

Data Utilization

Inventory data is an important factor when making logistical, purchasing, and fulfillment decisions. As such, your inventory manager shouldn’t be the only one looking at inventory data. In most situations, collaboration between your inventory, sales, and operations teams can lead to more effective estimating of projected sales, replenishment rates, and seasonal stock fluctuations.

Getting Help

If your inventory management performance is suffering, but the reasons why are not clear, an outside perspective can prove invaluable. Inventory consultants and 3PL partners can provide the expertise required to fix issues – or improve growth and stability for non-problematic, but average, inventory management processes. Ideally, you should look for a partner with experience in cycle counting, monitoring order-picking operations, and sustaining data accuracy.