Efficient inventory management is the building block of a successful business. A poor inventory management system can lead to the failure of the supply chain. Therefore, it is important to have a strong inventory management system to manage every stock.
Yet how do you know you’re in need of a new management system? Below are 4 signs of a weak inventory management system you should be aware of.
1. Losing Sales
A poor stock management system might result in a drop in sales volume. Customer experience is deteriorated by insufficient inventory or out-of-stock products, especially for popular items during peak seasons. A continuous failure to meet customer demand would drive your customer towards your competitors. A decline in sales due to low capacity to deliver orders is a clear sign that your business needs a new inventory management system.
2. Can Not Deal with Demand Fluctuation
The inability to forecast demand for seasonal products or products with volatile demand is a clear indicator of a poor inventory management system. Running out of stock during a busy sales period will heavily dent a company’s profitability. At the same time, excess inventory piles up before the season will incur costs. This is because the capital will get locked in inventory and its storage. Forecasting demand accurately is crucial for any business. Therefore, to stay ahead, the company needs to have a robust stock management system.
3. Time-Consuming Inventory Management System
It is extremely time-consuming to manage your inventory manually. This is because sales and stock need to be tracked and updated every day. Human agents are likely to make errors when you’re selling in multiple regions. Any mistake in updating data can result in delayed reordering, overstocking, or understocking. If managing inventory is consuming a lot of your time, then it is a sign that you should upgrade to inventory management systems.
4. Low Inventory Turnover Rate
The inventory turnover highlights how efficient a company is at converting prospects into final sales. A low inventory turnover rate is an indication of weak sales capacity or overstocking. Low inventory turnover can lead to three business problems, which are obsolete stock, poor cash flow, and high carrying costs. The biggest reason behind this is a poor stock management system. Hence, an automated inventory management system is needed to optimize inventory and increase the inventory turnover ratio.
Automated your stock management system
Because of the abovementioned weakness, businesses are switching to automated stock management systems. Automation allows for automatic updates of product inventory levels and categorization. Some examples of tasks to be done by automation platforms are:
- Auto-publish product
- Auto-categorize orders (based on value, locations, etc)
- Auto-notify of low-stock items, abandoned cart, or high-value orders
- Auto-notify of low-stock items, abandoned cart, or high-value orders
- Auto-detect and halt high-risk orders, and many more
With this, you can easily keep track of your inventory without paying attention to it all the time.
Conclusion:
All in all, poor inventory management practices can cost a company time, money, and business, and updating inventory management systems will benefit the company.
