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3 Reasons Inventory Management Matters

by bloomRail Staff - June 27, 2021

For a small business, an enterprise-level corporation, or anything in between, maintaining an excellent inventory management system is essential for success in e-commerce. Keeping tight controls on your channels leads to robust and sustainable growth, happier customers, higher profit margins, and richer analytics data. The role of inventory management is to let you know where all of your products are, allow for an easy view into multiple warehouses, view and predict sales trends, and alert you when stock is low, among many other functions. Methods of inventory management have historically included rudimentary handwritten ledgers and Excel spreadsheets, but in today’s world of e-commerce, robust inventory forecasting software has become essential to maximizing profit margins. Here are three ways utilizing the best inventory management software helps grow your business:

1. Staying In-Stock = Sales Growth
Without tight controls on your inventory channels, you run the risk of losing sales due to three dreaded words: “out of stock.” The best inventory management software forecasts sales based on previous trends, seasonal fluctuations, and other factors, so that you’ll always know when it’s time to restock. Products that consistently arrive on time are crucial for establishing a happy and loyal customer base and increasing brand equity.

Maintaining accurate inventory forecasting fulfills customer expectations, which leads to customer retention and growth. Inventory management apps predict future sales and tell you exactly how to plan ahead so you never run out of stock or ship products late. This creates sustainable sales-growth both by maintaining satisfied repeat-customers and by avoiding “out of stock” missed sales.

2. Avoid Unnecessary Overstock Expenses
Low inventory can be a problem and hinder sales growth, but high inventory can damage profit margins, as well. A good Inventory management system doesn’t just stop you from being understocked: it stops you from being overstocked. It also lets you know when products are nearing the end of their shelf-lives.

Having more product on shelves than you are able to sell leads to costly expenses: extra storage and shipping costs, wasted and discarded products, heavy discounting to clear shelves, dead stock, and costly overage fees from retailers like Amazon. Good Inventory management systems let you know when to order inventory for restocking, and, just as importantly, when not to do so. Using inventory forecasting software maximizes sales growth while minimizing operating expenses caused by overstocking.

3. Powerful Data for Business Analytics & Marketing
An inventory management system provides you with a macro-level view into sales trends, changing customer demand, and seasonal fluctuations. Because of that wealth of data, good inventory management software does more than just keep your inventory on track: it helps you create highly-informed strategies and plans for other aspects of your business, such as marketing. Having a clear and concise window into current and past sales trends helps you grow your business as you decide where, when, and how to market your products. The data provided by Inventory management software is a key component of business analytics across the board and helps create scalable, sustainable, long-term growth.

This is just the tip of the inventory iceberg. If you’d like to learn more about the importance and functionality of inventory management for your specific small business, medium business, or enterprise-level org, contact us today for a free consultation, with no strings attached.

bloomRail’s Inventory Forecaster is powerful, robust, and easy-to-use inventory management software that will put your business on track for long-term, sustainable growth.

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