Monday, February 7, 2011

Using Inventory Software to Save Your Retail Business


In tough retail conditions retail business owners and managers need to make tough decisions. Decisions which get the retail store back on track and profitable.Good inventory control software can help you make these decisions. It can provide a fact basis for any inventory related decision.By tracking inventory which comes into and goes out of the retail business, through a variety of means, the business builds, through the inventory software, the data necessary for good quality decisions.It all starts with good inventory software. This is software which:
  • Tracks every sale.
  • Processes electronic invoices from suppliers and allows you to manually enter invoices.
  • Tracks movement of inventory from a warehouse to retail.
  • Tracks theft of stock.
  • Provides you with excellent reports for understanding the performance of your inventory from a range of views.
If your retail business is experiencing difficult trading, it is probably time for you to more fully embrace your inventory software to turn the situation around.Assuming you use your inventory pos system or  inventory management software properly, here are steps you can take to improve the performance of your business.

Cut dead stock. Print a report of stock which has not sold in the last six months. Review this list and make quick tough decisions about quitting stock which is not performing for the business.
Some retailers are prepared to carry underperforming stock for a long time because they want to be known for their range. This has a cost. If your margin is slim then cutting dead stock is a most urgent business activity.

Move stock around. Print a report showing hat stock items are selling with other stock items. Learn from these shopping basket pairings and consider moving stock on your shop floor as a result.
Get smarter with your stock and use reports in your software to guide tactical moves which are chasing more sales.

Focus on suppliers. Compare the performance of suppliers using reports in your software. If there are suppliers significantly outperforming others, focus more on them. But be sure to let underperforming suppliers know that they have problems.

Too often, retail suppliers control their client businesses. You can take control by relying on your reports which are based on your real sales. Suppliers base their information on what they sell you.

Cut theft. One business problem could be theft of stock by customers. Using theft management tools in your inventory control software you are better equipped to understand what is being stolen and when. Use this information to reduce theft. A cohesive and fact based theft management strategy could improve your bottom line by between 2% and 5% depending on the nature of your business.

The inventory on your shop floor is a good place to start to turn a struggling retail business around. Achieve this by using good inventory management software. Feed it good data and rely on accurate reports to help guide better business decisions.It takes discipline and a preparedness to trust the data more than your own feelings. Confidence will grow with time. Good decisions will be reflected in better business data.
Inventory management software can change a retail business from a basket case to a terrific success story.

    3 comments:

    1. great article! check this site out:(http://www.bankcardpos.com/retail-point-sale), they have great stuff too.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Selecting the stock store to be used is as essential as the choice to use the application. There are many alternatives but you must have a concept of the fundamentals before you begin verifying all these components.

      stock management software system

      ReplyDelete
    3. Nice way of providing information i wish you will be proceed this talking about of information with your guests later on also for their improvement.
      online inventory software | online billing software

      ReplyDelete