Syncing Up a Better Approach to Inventory Management

Inventory management is more than just keeping track of your stock. It is a critical component in supply chain management that helps keep your business profitable. According to Gartner, 41% of businesses rely on manual methods to log their inventory and keep track of what they have in stock. That is a lot of hands-on work that can increase the likelihood of mistakes. 

We recently discussed common inventory issues and how to build strategies to overcome them in a webinar. Watch it below, or read on for a quick summary of our top strategies. 

So what exactly is inventory management?

Inventory management is a process that oversees your inventory for its entire lifecycle. The product management process includes:

• Receiving 
• Storing 
• Allocating
• Selling
• Restocking

It can involve a wide range of operations within your business like warehousing or procurement, so having a good process for inventory management is crucial for business efficiency. However, it can also be challenging, especially for growing businesses.

The Importance of Inventory Management

Too much or too little inventory can negatively impact your business, either hurting your profits or your reputation. No stock means customers go elsewhere. Inaccurate stock can mean late shipping that can build frustration with your customer base. 

A survey from Statista shows that over half of consumers expect orders to arrive within two days, making inventory mismanagement a potential customer service nightmare.

Poor inventory management can negatively impact marketplace rankings and lead to additional costs. Procurement Tactics says you can cut costs by 10% by focusing on reducing overstocking and understocking.

Common Inventory Management Challenges

There are plenty of pitfalls companies have to watch out for. Here are some of the major ones:

1. Manual Tracking
   • Relying on spreadsheets and manual updates often leads to human error.
   • Miscounts can cause overselling or underselling.
2. Managing SKUs Across Multiple Bundles
   • When the same product is included in multiple bundles, tracking available inventory becomes difficult.
3. Allocating Inventory Across Multiple Selling Channels
   • Managing different marketplaces is complex, so manually managing them can be inefficient and error-prone.

Best Practices for Inventory Management

How can you overcome those pesky challenges and achieve mastery over your inventory? Let’s explore below:

What to Avoid:

• Relying on manual entry and spreadsheets
• Using inventory solutions that do not integrate with multiple selling channels
• Investing in costly, complex solutions with unnecessary features
• Ignoring the importance of bundles and aliases in inventory tracking

What to Implement:

1. Define a Single Source of Truth
   • Keep all inventory data centralized and up to date.
2. Utilize Inventory Management Software
   • Take advantage of automated tracking and reporting features.
3. Leverage Committed Inventory Tracking
   • This ensures accurate visibility of available stock once orders are placed.
4. Implement Buffer Stock Settings
   • Maintain a safety net to prevent overselling.
5. Integrate Inventory Tracking With Shipping
   • Block shipments for out-of-stock products to prevent customer service issues.

Introducing ShipStation Inventory Sync

There are plenty of tools out there to help you solve inventory issues—one of those tools is ShipStation’s Inventory Sync. It was developed based on user feedback to solve common inventory challenges. It can help you reduce the risk of under and overselling, avoiding lost revenue and excess inventory. Automation manages inventory updates across multiple sales channels, eliminating the need for you to update databases manually. It also simplifies integration by seamlessly syncing inventory across platforms such as Amazon, Shopify, Etsy, Walmart, and more.

Customer Feedback & Benefits

Feedback from customers has highlighted what this has done for them.

• Users save an average of 20 hours per month by using Inventory Sync.
• Businesses replacing their existing Inventory Management Systems (IMS) with ShipStation save up to $600 per month.
• Customers appreciate the ease of use and streamlined operations.

If you would like to see how Inventory Sync works, you can check out the live demo at the 12:30 mark in the above webinar replay.

ShipStation is already planning the future of Inventory Sync, and the great news is it will keep getting better! This is what you can expect to see soon:

• Additional marketplace integrations are in development.
• Features such as lot tracking, serialization, and forecasting will be added based on user feedback.

If you want to be a part of Inventory Sync’s evolution, you can get started for free to access all of the new features. In the webinar, there’s a nice perk to make it even easier to get started. 

What Inventory Sync Means For You

As we know, a well-managed inventory has implications way beyond the warehouse, and it is critical to your business success and creating great customer buying experiences.

But you are not alone, and it does not have to be complicated. Implementing ShipStation Inventory Sync is one way that you can reduce your costs, save time, and avoid that inventory headache. 

For a three-month free trial, head to the webinar for details.

Thank you for attending!