When starting out with your online retail venture, it is unlikely that inventory management was top of your to do list, or even on your radar. But, as dry a subject as it may be, effective inventory management is what makes brands more professional, desirable and trustworthy to their customers. It’s also vital if you want to grow your business into a large-scale operation.
Here, we look at the many reasons that inventory management should become a top priority for your online retail business this year.
Great inventory management makes for happy customers
When a customer visits your eCommerce site, they want to know straight away if you have the products they want in stock. This is why your marketplaces should be organised and easy to use, so your customers can find what they want immediately.
Customers will always pay for convenience, which is why you should clearly state your despatch and delivery aims and offering carrier upgrades, especially for high price items. However, streamlining your sales and fulfilment processes is only possible with good inventory management. Without it, customers will view your brand as unreliable if they cannot get what they want when they want it.
Integrated inventory management
If you sell your products through multiple marketplaces then you need to have one integrated inventory management system to synchronise your stock over multiple sites. Without this, you may sell products on one site that are actually out of stock, causing your customers unwanted delays and disappointment.
As Daniel Allin, Chief Product and Innovation Officer, elaborates:
“Inventory management is absolutely paramount in the performance and delivery process. If you’re marketing your goods on a variety of marketplaces, having global stock synchronisation will make sure your customers only order what you have. There is nothing more frustrating than goods not being in stock.
It also enables you to replenish goods in plenty of time by keeping an eye on what stock lines are running low. With supply chain challenges like we’ve seen in 2022, having a live inventory shows exactly when your key lines are running low, so you can order in good time.”
Meeting demand through inventory management
Any online retailer looking to grow their offering will want to satisfy the demand for their products throughout their busiest periods. This requires a huge amount of sales analysis and purchase planning, particularly with the supply disruptions we are currently facing. An inventory management system can massively help with this process. You can align the system to your particular purchasing cycles and account for any disruptions, so you are always alerted well in advance.
Keeping on top of expiry dates
For those retailers selling perishable goods, date control of stock is vital. An inventory management system can monitor and warn you when stock is approaching its expiry date. This gives you the opportunity to sell off this stock early to maximise revenue and reduce spoilage, even on slow line items.
Smart inventory management
At Diamond, we know how important all of the above is for online retailers and how costly poor inventory management can be. This is why we have invested in our one stop fulfilment and logistics platform, Despatchlab.
Despatchlab keeps all of your inventory management in one place. It’s easy to use and will integrate across all of your eCommerce marketplaces. With it, you can track your stock levels, get alerts when a particular product or materials need purchasing, keep on top of your perishable stock and receive comprehensive data to plan your future stock needs and successful lines.
If you would like to know more about our inventory management and fulfilment technology, or discuss how we can help your business in 2023, give our team a call on 0333 567 5888, email us at sales@diamondlogistics.co.uk, or complete our contact form below.
