If you have a defined standard procedure for both online and offline inventory management when transitioning to an automated platform, you’re already halfway there.
Inventory management is one of its most quintessential components in any business development ecosystem. An efficient inventory management system helps you minimize the chances of having ‘too much’ or ‘too little’ stock, which can be vital to avoid the risk of stockouts and inconsistent records.
While about 46% of the businesses are yet to digitalize their inventory management process, it is needless to say how cumbersome and unreliable manual listings can be. Besides, manual practices can multiply your inventory management costs in resources and time consumption.
Although, the demand for automated inventory management software has doubled over the last couple of years, paving the way for a shift from pen and paper inventory management. And Shopify has benefited from this significantly. But while Shopify remains one of the sought-after eCommerce solutions in the market, it does have several limitations to how it can help you scale your business. So how does one optimize their Shopify inventory management process?
To crack this code, let’s get started with the basics of Shopify inventory management.
Read on to learn more about how pairing your eCommerce business with an automated inventory management system can drive its growth.
What exactly is Shopify inventory management?
Inventory management is the process of tracking products in your inventory to ensure that you:
- Correct inventory levels on all your sales channels
- Have enough to fulfill the current demand for your product,
- Don’t purchase a product excessively,
- Have the ability to scale as and when the demand increases,
- Efficient overall management of your stocks.
Consider the following example:
Suppose you’re an online jeweler with multiple stores across platforms like Shopify & Etsy
Now, for any business to sustain or grow, you’ll need to track sales and revenue so as to allocate resources as precisely as you can. You’ll be spending a lot of time figuring out the products that work. Plus, to make optimum sales projections, you will need to know how much to buy.
With so much going on you need to put crucial tasks like inventory on a reliable platform like Sumtracker.
Without an efficient Shopify inventory management system
- End up spending a lot of time managing inventory on multiple platforms
- Won’t know the real-time status of inventory to take quick decisions
- End up with a low stock of high-selling products and miss out on lucrative sales.
- End up with an overwhelming stock which may eventually tie up your capital
- Fail to fulfill orders that you accepted due to inconsistent inventory records that did not indicate low stocks, hampering the customer’s shopping experience with your store.
With an automated Shopify inventory management system, like Sumtracker, you can easily track all your items and Stock Keeping Units (SKUs) across all sales channels. Define your alert threshold to keep track of each item at the snap of your finger.
Is Shopify inventory management crucial for your e-business?
Human error is one of the leading causes of inventory distortion in 46% of the businesses, as reported in a research by SoftwarePath, which also states that inventory management software can help companies achieve 95% accuracy in stock management.
But that just scratches the surface – inventory management software works at the core of the problem. Here’s why you need an automated app:
- Real-time update of inventory on all platforms: This alone gives you a lot of control over your inventory. It frees up your time to focus on sales and not depend on manual entries.
- Automate bundles inventory: Bundling is a great way to increase sales. You need a tool that takes care of how much inventory can be fulfilled of your bundles.
- Manage Purchases: Purchasing can get complex as your business grows. You need the ability to make purchase orders quickly and communicate with your vendor effectively. Plus you need an overview of what’s incoming, when are POs due, purchase rates, etc at the snap of a finger. This is where Shopify inventory management software can be really useful.
- Easily make inventory adjustments: This is crucial at times when you are dealing with a lot of products or making a new launch. You want everything to go smoothly. A great inventory management tool can enhance your experience of keeping inventory up to date.
- Hold optimum levels of Inventory: Everyone wants to hold optimum inventory to keep less capital tied up in their inventory. This is possible only when you have a constant overview of sales, inventory, and purchases at all times. Your saved capital can be used in other departments like marketing to increase sales.
- Know what sells: Products always need to be tracked for what’s selling and what’s not. Sometimes, products go out of fashion, or off-season. Reporting and analytics on inventory management software help you assess sales patterns to create projections, lowering the risk of dead stock accumulation.
- Enhance customer experience: With apps such as Sumtracker, you can define alert thresholds to never miss stock refill updates. Staying on top of your inventory will allow you to fulfill all the orders that you commit to, providing a satisfactory experience for your customers. Good reviews and word of mouth can be instrumental for your marketing – and a happy customer is the best brand advocate!
Manual V/S automated tracking for Shopify inventory management
Old school isn’t always cool – especially when you have to track and update Google Sheets, and Excel files, manually input sales data, and manage SKUs for every sale. Not only is this unnecessarily cumbersome and time-consuming, but it also leaves scope for human error.
Conversely, an automated Shopify inventory management app can do everything and more in less than half the time, and with zero spoon-feeding from you. With the right inventory management system, you will have more time to focus on the things that truly matter to your business.
Here’s how Sumtracker takes the burden off of you
Smart inventory management systems are a boon to both small and large-scale businesses. But small and medium businesses seldom opt for these platforms due to high costs and complicated setups.
Sumtracker is a seamless solution for all your inventory management vows. Easy real-time inventory syncing across multiple channels, create bundles and kits, and manage low stock alerts – all with a simple setup in under 3 minutes!
Intuitive inventory management to make your work life easier.
Image credit – Online business photo created by tirachardz
