Stock control should be a priority for any business owner. When you're in control of your stock, you'll see improvements in warehouse efficiency, better customer service and clear visibility of stock value and profit margins.
Find out why stock control is important, and how you can maintain an effective stock management system that will help your business scale.
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Benefits of stock control include having the visibility of all products a business currently owns including physical and cloud-based items. Stock control management incorporates proactively managing new stock alongside stock that has been sold. When a company has a more comprehensive overview of their stock control, they're able to meet customer demand in a more efficient manner and decrease any cost that's associated with holding stock.
Good stock control is when a business has full knowledge of every product type in the warehouse. This consists of inventory control, order management, supply chain links and stock value.
Stock management solutions also assist in ascertaining what is a best seller and what is not selling as well and evaluates when it is time to re-order stock for optimum business efficiency.
Wholesale distributors can radically improve productivity and efficiency in their warehouse when they implement stock management software. The software will eliminate any time-consuming manual processes, freeing up time for employees to focus on other areas of the business.
A disorganised warehouse creates hundreds of problems - staying on top of inventory is just one of them. When you have a clear stock management strategy in place, organising and managing the warehouse becomes much easier. From placing your best-selling products together, to arranging your warehouse by brand or seasonality, you can rearrange your stock so that it's easily accessible. This means that your employees can find products quickly, complete the order fulfilment process in a timely manner, and in turn keep your customers happy!
If your customers know that your products are always available and they'll get their orders fulfilled in good time, they're likely to return. To remain competitive and have an edge, you need to be able to meet customer demand in the most efficient manner possible, and this is where stock management comes in. You'll have the tools for complete control over your product levels, and the power to place a purchase order for restocking, in order to maximise efficiency and sales.
If you're selling products across multiple channels such as Amazon, eBay, over the phone or in-store, staying on top of and tracking these orders from all channels manually can become a minefield. With fully integrated software, your stock control will be managed from each channel so that stock levels are kept up to date and customers are kept happy.
For a company to successfully do business, it must have the products, materials and/or services that the customer needs. Depleting Minimum stock levels (also known as a stock-out') happens when the product, material or service is not available to meet customer demand, and usually happens when demand is higher than usual.
Running out of stock not only damages the reputation of a business, but it can also create large financial losses due to the lack of sales. This illustrates the need for a robust stock control software and why it is so important.
A stock control system provides real-time forecasts such as seasonal trends, to ensure a stock-out doesn't happen. And it will ensure that there is an appropriate level of stock for all situations.
The opposite of a stock-out is overstocking, and while it may seem like having a high-level of stock at all times is a solution, it comes with its own issues. The excess stock becomes tied up in the business's capital, which could have been used in other places. The excess stock also incurs additional warehousing costs due to spacing, and in some instances, the stock, finished goods or raw materials become outdated or spoiled before you even get the chance to sell it.
Stock control gets rid of the guesswork in your forecasting and allows for much more accurate data when you're setting figures. This means that the sales and marketing departments can set realistic forecasts and the purchasing department can order stock based on real historical data.
Having control over your stock will help you to create a clear process for when stock is returned or damaged and will prevent the wrong stock from being sent out to customers. A stock control system will help the warehouse team to correctly process the products and assign them to the correct locations. This is to ensure stock doesn't end up in returns bins' and is never reissued to be sold.
When all stock is accounted for and organised with correct barcodes and in the correct bin location, it becomes a deterrent for potential theft, and it becomes harder to misplace or lose stock. Good business software will give you clear visibility of the whereabouts and status of all your products, so you'll be able to identify different types of stock, errors or misplaced items.
It's impossible to have complete accurate stock control if you're relying on manually updating spreadsheets because human error and long processes increase the likelihood of inaccurate information. If you're looking to drive your business forward, manual stock control is not reliable. If you're planning to expand your product lines you need a connected, reliable stock management system to support you and automate the processes for maximum efficiency.
The purpose of stock control is to reduce the costs of holding stock while ensuring you can meet customer demand and making sure that there's enough material for production. Businesses should always have a safe' amount of stock so that they're able to react and cover any unforeseen issues.
A stock control system not only helps you track stock levels, orders, sales and deliveries, but it can also help to streamline day-to-day processes, enhance communication across the business and drastically improve customer service.
