Managing Inventory
Keeping track of your inventory can help prevent you from potential inventory errors or inefficiencies. You can increase profits and operate more efficiently by keeping careful track of the goods your company has in stock. To do so, record products manufactured or purchased, shipped, delivered and returned. The goal is to make sure you can fill orders without delays or becoming overwhelmed. Sticking to an inventory management strategy will help you stay organized, maintain accuracy, save you time and money, increase efficiency and productivity, and keep your customers satisfied.
Count inventory regularly
Keeping track of your stock level is an important way to manage costs, keep your business running smoothly and detect theft. Even if you have a POS system and digital records, it’s important to do inventory counts every so often to ensure your records match what you actually have in stock.
Set goal inventory levels
Experts recommend setting a “par level” for your products. This is the minimum amount of a product that you need to have on hand at any given time. Setting this number will let you know when you need to reorder and prevent you from running out of stock, a key to keeping customers happy.
Use the FIFO approach (first in, first out)
In order to keep inventory up to date, your stock should be sold in the same order that it was purchased or created. This is known as the FIFO approach — first in, first out. Using this approach will help you avoid selling old products that may be damaged or expired.
Identify low-turn stock
If you have stock that hasn’t sold in several months, it may be time to stop stocking that item. You could consider using a discount or promotion to sell the items quickly and replace them with something else you think customers will want.
Invest in an inventory management tool
Depending on how complex your inventory is, inventory management tools can help streamline your tracking process and save you time. This could be as simple as a spreadsheet, or include various software options that can track orders, sales, average order value and average shipments per day.
