The Importance Of Stock Management Systems To Small Businesses

Many factors contribute to a successful e-commerce business. A strong brand, creative marketing and a great website are all ways to attract customers. While these are all important, they are nothing without the physical product you're selling. As part of a company's most significant assets, it's essential you can track every single one of them. So, whether your products have just arrived at the depot or they're just about to be delivered to the customers' door, here are some reasons why it's important to invest time and money in keeping track of your stock.

Delivery

When it comes to customer service, fast and reliable delivery is what majority of customers care about the most. The first step in processing deliveries quickly is knowing exactly how many of an item you have in stock and where exactly you can find them when you’re running low. If you don't have an organized system, it will slow down your dispatch or delivery process considerably.

Having access to an effective warehouse management system means you could have full control over all your stock even if they are on the other side of the country. To save money and time, many small businesses use a fulfillment company with a high tech tracking system to take care of this critical task. Companies like Red Stag Fulfilment can dispatch an order the same day it is created by using unique ID tags to track the status of each item in the warehouse. Although it may feel like you're handing control over to an external company, they provide access to their system so you can see exactly how much stock you have left to sell without having to set up your own system.

Knowing what's popular

No matter how much time and effort you put into creating a design, some products will sell more than others. Whether it's aligning yourself with the latest trends, or just providing something unique that your target audience really wants, it's essential that when you have a successful product, you are able to learn from it. The sooner you can spot that something is working well, the sooner you can start to decipher why it's done well and figure out how you can develop other products to be just as successful. 

Making sure the shelves stay full

If you've got a very successful product, it's also essential that you don't run out of it. You can only make money out of a popular product if you have enough of it in stock. It's also crucial that you don't hold on to old stock that isn't selling for too long, as some perishable products could become unsellable if they have a use-by date. By using a first-in, first-out system, you can make sure the items that have been sitting on the shelves the longest go out before the newer stock. This will also allow you to cut down on any unnecessary disposal of valuable stock.