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You answer this simple math question: How many gears does Somchai have 50 wheels sold for 8?
Now let’s look at one more question: How many gears do you have left in your warehouse?
These questions are not only old questions from elementary schools, but also challenges in Inventory Management, and will explain why. Why did Somchai have 42 gears left in the first question, but the second question had 46 gears left?
Inventory Management is much more complex than simple mathematics, which leaves 46 wheelchairs in the warehouse because she has broken four off of eight orders and will be broken again until delivery to four customers. In this situation, automation is required. And that technique is very important when you have a lot of products to follow.
Discover how to keep customers from canceling their baskets when they visit your online store.
To help you get into Inventory Management, we’ll describe Inventory Management as: What in the world of ecommerce is software that supports the ongoing monitoring process and general techniques for successful inventory management and management?
Inventory Management Definitions
Inventory Management or inventory management is to manage the volume, variety, price and location of the products available to the business. If any product is in stock, it is part of the business inventory and manages the movement of the supply chain.
Therefore, the available products are listed on the online ordering page.
That’s why. Why, in Somchai’s sample of 50 wheelchairs, she had 46 left after eight sold. Knowing how much inventory she had, how many orders she had, and how much goods she had sent or received were all about basic Inventory Management.
How? Inventory Management does not include company assets, manufacturing tools and other business investment models, but can include separate parts of unassigned products for delivery to customers. How these parts are counted against finished products depends on the product model delivered to the customer.
Software for Inventory Management
As your business grows, inventory management becomes inevitably more difficult, especially if you sell online, where your customers expect to see the status of your products available or ready for delivery and the status of the products at each purchase stage.
Fortunately, there are many inventory management tools in the market today that integrate with e-commerce sites and help you monitor your supply chain and to make it easy for you to choose from, we have compiled seven of the best solutions for e-commerce businesses below.
Delivrd (Free)
Delivrd is a free cloud-based online order management solution for businesses of all sizes. Operating systems monitor warehouses, print barcodes, analyze the profitability of products, or even combine undelivered orders for future delivery.
Notify Me (Free)
Notify Me is free inventory management software that is used for e-commerce businesses that use Shopify as a sales channel. In addition to viewing existing products in your store, Notify Me allows you to set up automatic alerts for out-of-stock items. Shopify users can download web applications by clicking here.
Oberlo (Free for 50 Orders/Month)
Oberlo is one of the best inventory management services for dropshipping stores or e-commerce businesses that deliver products directly to customers from manufacturers without having to store them. You can create your own rules: pricing, time-to-delivery, tracking, vendor changes and more. In addition, Oberlo has a Shopify user web application.
Ordoro (starting $25/month)
Ordoro is a cloud-based delivery tool for inventory management at every sales stage, providing automated services for dispensing, barcode scanning and supplier management requests and displaying real-time revenue data. Ordoro works with more than 24 sales and shipping carriers. There is also a web application for Shopify users.
inFlow (starting $69/month)
When you use InFlow, you earn a lot of money for what you pay for. This software is cloud-based inventory management that can help manage bills, barcodes, product numbers, end products and more, whether in your inventory or in transit. InFlow is also available through Windows and Android Applications. So it lets you manage your inventory through mobile devices.
Skubana (Tender Request)
Skubana connects e-commerce businesses with retailers around the world. This software helps you manage customer orders and inventory procedures while working with other retailers who may want to sell your products. Skubana also helps track orders from multiple warehouses and anticipate supply or demand. Forcasts) of the product, which allows you to expand your product or product line. There are also web applications for Shopify users.
Unleashed (starting $85/month)
Unleashed is a flexible inventory management solution that enables e-commerce customers to make important decisions about their product lines based on real-time data. According to the Unleashed website, the software is ideal for manufacturers and provides the most important inventory information conveniently on your mobile phone.
Techniques for Inventory Management
While daily business availability is just an overview of inventory, ongoing inventory management, and multi-time comparisons of inventory with each other, all of which can help e-commerce businesses make long-term supply chain decisions.
Many e-commerce companies can manage their inventory in a number of ways, but not all management methods provide the insight you need to help your business grow. Here are a few different techniques for Inventory Management, where you can try the benefits of each approach.
Just-In-Time (Fixed-Time Production)
The technique for Inventory Management here is to inventory every time a customer places an order, so your inventory will be as large or as small as the number of orders you fill.
The advantage of Just-In-Time (JIT) techniques, or just-in-time manufacturing, is how you manage only the products that need to be delivered to customers. The long-term Just-In-Time treatment will require you to closely monitor your buying behaviour so that you can predict inventory demand in advance.
First In, First Out (First In – First Out)
First In, First Out (FIFO) or First In – First Out means that any product that enters the warehouse first, that product will be delivered to the customer first.
This technique ensures that your products do not remain in the inventory for too long before being delivered to customers. FIFO is also popular in the food industry, which is a business that must dispose of expired or rotten items and deliver only fresh food.
PAR Levels
Setting up PAR Levels can help keep businesses safe by always making sure they have minimum inventory levels. Even if the company uses Just-In-Time method to store only the products that customers order, the company will always have the products available or available.
But in the end, PAR Levels are not for emergencies when you have to have a spare product, but just to create a warning step when it’s time to order something more, and when your inventory falls below the specified level, you’ll have to order more.
You should set a PAR level based on the length of time it takes to replenish inventory. For example, a product that takes the longest time should have a PAR level higher than any other product in the business because it is likely to run out before the new product is replenished.
Grouping Analysis with ABC System (ABC Analysis)
ABC Analysis, or classified analysis using the ABC system, classifies business products into three categories based on product importance. The general details of each category are as follows:
- Type A: High-value but low-volume products.
- Type B: Medium-value and relatively high-volume products.
- Type C: Low-value, but high-volume products
Alternatively, the Selective Inventory Control, or selective inventory control by this inventory management technique, allows businesses with multiple product lines to easily prioritize their inventories as well as the Just-In-Time technique. Success under ABC Analysis comes from observing each product’s buyer’s interest. And some products may not be fully compatible with a particular category. For example, snowboards may be of high value in accordance with category A criteria at all times, but they may also be of high volume in winter according to category C criteria.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping can be seen as the opposite of the inventory. One of the features of Oberlo is an inventory management tool mentioned earlier, delivering products directly from the manufacturer to the customer. The vendor does not have to store them.
Dropshipping can benefit businesses that don’t have their own storage space, but because you don’t manage the delivery yourself, communicating with the delivery department is critical to delivering it on time and satisfying customers.
Demand Forecasting
Your Inventory Management software may help you predict, but it is important to create long-term (or even year-round) forecasts for when sales of each product category are volatile.
One way to forecast supply is to look at total sales from last year as a guide to how your inventory will change during each period of this year. These changes may be attributed to market conditions or simply seasonal changes, but you should also take these factors into account when establishing strategies for your products, especially where the software you use to manage your automated inventory does not take these variables into account.
The last secret about Inventory Management is to maintain relationships with everyone who touches your business, whether it’s a delivery company or a new employee, because your inventory depends on clear communication between you and your colleagues and should be as supportive as customers who visit online stores or E-Commerce. It’s for you.
