Inventory management is one of the foundational pillars of any successful business, whether selling products in-store, online or at events. Effective inventory handling impacts every aspect of your operations from customer experience and order fulfillment through accounting and financial tracking – therefore finding high-quality software providers who can support your growth with features tailored specifically for you is essential to a prosperous operation.
Traditional inventory tracking was done manually through paper order slips and supplier receipts, along with printed records of their inventory at any given time. Today’s inventory management software digitizes these processes, improving accuracy and making it easier to maintain accurate records that stay up-to-date. Furthermore, automated systems reduce time employees spent manually entering data which reduces labor costs while improving overall efficiency.
Inventory management systems not only save time but can help you make more informed decisions when and what to buy. A reliable provider can track trends in product demand to accurately anticipate how much stock will be required at certain times of year – this way avoiding stockouts and overstocking while optimizing purchasing practices.
Inventory management software should facilitate communication with suppliers to simplify ordering processes and enhance supply chain transparency. Look for software that imports vendor catalog files automatically populating purchase orders or offers an integrated marketplace where multiple vendors offer products from their catalog. This ensures you pay competitive pricing while meeting customer orders on time.
One essential feature to keep in mind when choosing your inventory management solution is configuring an auto reorder point to monitor low stock alerts so that popular items never run out. This saves on storage and shipping expenses as well as dead stock that might otherwise go bad or get misplaced in a warehouse.
Select a provider with reporting and analysis capabilities to give you deeper insights into your business performance. An inventory report, for example, can give a visual breakdown of your most popular items while also revealing categories where sourcing strategies need revisiting.
Inventory management software should integrate seamlessly with your various sales channels in order to streamline fulfillment and enhance customer experiences. You’ll want to look for solutions that incorporate POS technology as well as those compatible with Shopify or Amazon Marketplace platforms. Order management will become much simpler and duplicating orders will become impossible. Furthermore, selecting a solution which supports multiple sales channels ensures customers enjoy an effortless shopping experience both offline and online.
Cin7 offers an inventory management system fully integrated with POS and e-commerce technology to enable faster checkout times and provide one centralized database with orders and fulfillment information. Lightspeed also offers all-in-one platforms featuring both inventory management technology as well as onboarding training videos to simplify setup for newcomers.
