43% of small businesses either use a manual process to track their inventory or they don't track it at all. This statistic suggests a troubling trend among small businesses. A poorly managed inventory can lead to delayed shipping and stock-outs. So, losing track of your inventory altogether is extremely worrying. You may have had to cancel orders or even manage customer complaints.
Fortunately, stock control systems can make a real difference to your inventory control. But which is the best choice for your business? In this post, we'll take a look at how to choose the right system for you - and why Profit4 is the best choice for small businesses.
Why should small businesses use a stock management system?
First of all, let's outline why small businesses should avoid using pen and paper or Excel spreadsheets to track their stock. Put simply, manual systems are an incredibly outdated method for stock control. For one thing, tracking stock can take a long time to record manually, which inevitably holds up other parts of the distribution process.
Here are some key signs your business might need an upgrade to a stock control system...
- You're losing track of your stock. Staff might be unaware of low stock levels or the locations of products within your warehouses
- You've had stock-outs. Popular products have gone out of stock, leading to cancelled orders and frustrated customers
- There have been issues with human error, such as staff recording an incorrect bin location for a product
- There's poor integration between departments. Your sales team doesn't know about the stock levels in your warehouses
- There's poor integration between platforms, with orders from your eCommerce store not reflected in your overall stock levels
- Your warehouse layout is impractical, with popular items kept far away from the picking area
