Have you ever had to face a shortage of an item? Haven't found a product in your store? It is important to prevent it from happening again. How? Planning the management of the business with the help of an inventory for ecommerce .
Let's get worse. Black Friday or Christmas arrives and the demand for a product is so high that you do not have enough stock . It is very likely that the disappointment of the customer who cannot buy what he wants causes him to distrust your store.
Years of effort can go down the drain if this happens. But do not spread panic. Inventory forecasting is an effective way to always keep your customer satisfied . Let's see how to do it.
What is inventory management?
The E-Commerce 2021 Study offers a clear vision of the dimension of electronic commerce in Spain. Nearly 24 million people buy in our country online and the average ticket is 89 euros, with an average of 3.8 acquisitions per month.
These data give an idea of the dimension of ecommerce .
To be able to manage them, there is nothing better than monitoring the entire inventory process, from manufacturing to the warehouse and from there to the point of sale. That is, develop the so-called inventory management.
We point out some good practices that you must follow to have this entire process under control.
- Track inventory . The new technological solutions allow tracking the entire inventory process from the screen of a mobile or computer. So you can analyze the activities of the supply chain.
- Prepare a contingency plan . It is beneficial to develop an agile response strategy to situations such as running out of products, without space in the warehouse, some error from the suppliers or when your star product stops being manufactured.
- Choose an efficient storage method . It is about applying some of the most widespread stock management methods. We specify three:
- Just in Time method . It focuses on having only the necessary items for the activity. You will not need a large warehouse, but you will need suppliers that ship quickly and efficiently so that you do not run out of stock.
- ABC method . Classify the products in your store in A, B or C, depending on the value and benefit they offer. Based on this and their rotation, they will have a certain location. In this article they explain it to you in detail.
- Wilson method . Perfect for cost savings. It consists of making few annual orders and in large quantities to have a lot of stock . For this case it is essential to optimize the management of your warehouse .
What are the advantages of inventory planning?
The ultimate goal of your business is clear: to achieve customer satisfaction and increase sales . But, in addition, carrying out actions that optimize the management of an inventory for ecommerce has some extraordinary benefits. Let's see the main ones:
1. Provides better cash flow
Correct inventory management streamlines the entire process of your business and makes it easier for you to save money . Why?
- Prevent products from being lost . If you don't keep track of your stock , you may find items in your warehouse from previous seasons that have lost value or just don't appeal to consumers anymore.
- Save on storage . Optimizing inventory levels reduces your expenses. You only keep what you know you are going to sell in the short term, so you adjust the space. Of course, you need your logistics management be excellent.
- It allows you to make better decisions . If you know exactly what you have and where and how you have it, you will know in detail the data that will let you know when and in which products or activities you should invest.
2. Improve demand forecasting
Consumers are demanding shorter and more personalized delivery times. Using software that makes it easier to anticipate the demand that e-commerce will have is the most efficient way to achieve it. But what to take into account when making a demand forecast?
- Compile all the information on purchases and sales in recent months, taking into account components such as seasonality and unforeseen events that have occurred.
- Market trends . From the extraction of the data and analyzing the situation of the environment and the competition, you can know the trends and how they affect you. You can help yourself with market studies, surveys or other statistical methods.
- Control risks . It is important to have alternative providers in case the usual one fails. In this way, the forecast of the demand that you make will be more accurate, even if there are setbacks.
3. Better storage system
The store is the heart of ecommerce . The objective is to always maintain an operational agility in which errors are avoided as much as possible . Optimizing the storage system helps reduce spending and improve customer satisfaction .
There are several key aspects that help to improve the warehouse:
- Use warehouse management software that establishes the exact position of each product based on variables such as expiration date or item rotation, among others.
- Bring it closer to the environment where more sales are made . The importance of very fast delivery services to be competitive demands storing the stock in places close to the locations where you operate.
- Optimization Solutions . Land is limited and the closer it is to the urban center, the more expensive it is. For this reason, systems must be applied, such as compaction or height storage, that make the most of space.
conclusion
The expansion of electronic commerce represents a business opportunity that does not stop growing. But, at the same time, it requires facing challenges. It is essential to be competitive and offer the best customer service to achieve repeat purchases and reach new customers .
Today, having a ecommerce is essential to build loyalty and scale an electronic business . It also allows us to differentiate ourselves. Technology can help us a lot in this.
