Inventory control is extremely crucial to your business as a clothing store, food, or, appliance store. It is one of the determining factors for the growth of both retail and wholesale businesses. Not having enough of the right product will have customers turning to the competitors, and too much will have your money tied up in stock leaving you cash-trapped. This is why inventory control is important. Thankfully in this day and age, the point of sales software can offer all the data needed to make an informed decision about the state of your inventory. To help you get on track, here are 7 very simple tips that will help you reduce inventory costs, boost sales, and get better control of your inventory.
Having the right amount of inventory depends on how well you optimize your pos software. Being able to recognize what customers order regularly gives you a clear hint of what item you need in stock, and how often you should be ordering. Analyzing your sales ensures you have the right amount of inventory at the right time.
As soon as you have your inventory order-level set up, you are able to run a report that lets you know what items you are running low on. A purchase order can be created automatically after analyzing the report. This process saves the store manager a significant amount of time and also help in improving accuracy.
Right after you create your purchase order, you can send it to your supplier electronically, instead of having to call manually or worse, hand-entering the order into your supplier’s website/email. This eliminates error and helps you put controls in place for the ordering process.
If you take special orders, your pos software makes it easy for you to keep track of individual orders. A reminder can be set up to notify you when you need to reorder. Another reminder can be set up to remind you to notify your customers when orders arrive, so you don’t forget.
Paying attention to your top sellers is a very important aspect of inventory control. This is to make sure you are not ordering too little or too much of those items. Having the right amount of stock in your inventory means that you have tight control of your inventory and don’t have much capital tied up each month.
Lost sales are inevitable in business as there are times customers walk into your store to ask for a certain product, but these items are out of stock. It then happens, the customers aren’t interested in making a special order or taking an alternative item. This results in “lost sales”. Make sure to record lost sales in your POS system, then review monthly to see how many sales you have missed and what products you should be stocking.
Sometimes, stock items have sales developments that follow seasonal/periodic patterns. Making use of your pos software helps you to adequately predict demand and helps you remain on top of your stock level. With the available data from your retail or restaurant pos software, you remain a step ahead by ordering in advance according to estimated seasonal requirements.
Incorporating these tips to improve your inventory control will ensure you have the products your customers want at just the right time. By making use of retail software by POS Shop Limited you can start your journey to increased sales and full software optimization. Contact us at pos@posshop-ng.com.