As a Shopify merchant, you will have some type of inventory management set up for your online store. Regardless of whether you sell 12 or 12,000 items per week, you need to keep an idea about everything to figure your income; guarantee client needs are being met, and effectively manage any gaps simultaneously.
Having a manual way to deal with inventory management could include innumerable meetings, extensive individual management of employees, and thorough connections and alignment rehearses. Choosing to automate your inventory control is fundamentally likened to adding labor force optimization software to your business. It relieves your team of a ton of manual responsibility, guaranteeing that you are managing 100% accuracy every step of the way.
Shopify has a whole inventory management segment dedicated to watching the stock, order management, fulfilment, clients, and so forth Nonetheless, there is a bolt-on service that can be utilized to elevate the abilities of the product and mechanize measures significantly further.
We have listed a portion of the more usually utilized inventory management features in our 10 fundamental inventory management software features each Shopify merchant needs.
1. Inventory Management
Inventory management unifies all fundamental inventory features that permit you to oversee and control your stock. Shopify has this incorporated into its software yet there are extra applications that can add to the in-built features to maximize the capacities.
A portion of the inventory management software features that your business will utilize consistently incorporate, are as follows:
• Inventory information including item names, descriptions, and specifics
• Inventory dimensions (length, width, and depth), utilized for shipping purposes.
• Inventory weight, additionally used for shipping purposes.
• Inventory classification.
• Vendor management.
• Stock control.
• Purchase history.
• Shipping controls.
2. Barcoding and Tagging
Barcoding products and labelling them is a way to easily track and distinguish products. In land-based stores, barcodes are used to oversee stock and create a smooth and streamlined out checkout process. The equivalent applies to Shopify stores. Managing your inventory with scanner tags constantly makes it a lot simpler to sort.
When every product has a barcode and labels assigned, all processes to follow become a lot simpler. The following tasks are made simpler with the utilization of scanner tags constantly:
• Stock control
• Tracking of item pricing
• Tracking or tracing of any item subtleties
• Tracking of item location
• All item details are accessible with a basic scan or contribution of the barcode.
3. Inventory Tracking
Barcoding your items play a tremendous part in the inventory tracking process. Utilizing the same barcode from the warehouse to the checkout process in your online store empowers full control over each individual item consistently. This enables exactness, convenience for everybody, smoothed outperformance, and simplicity in various different functions.
Inventory can be tracked through multiple different means including barcodes, serial numbers, or any other identification that has been set up by the store or warehouse. Having this in place enables the real-time return of data and product information at any time. It’s used to pull reports and audits on products or to identify where in the supply chain a product has been delayed. It is an essential component of running a successful Shopify store.
Inventory can be tracked through numerous various methods including barcodes, serial numbers, or whatever other identification that has been set up by the store or distribution center. Having this set up enables the real-time of information and item data whenever. It can be used to pull reports and reviews on items or to identify where in the store network an item has been postponed. It is a fundamental part of running a fruitful Shopify store.
4. Inventory Notifications and Alerts
Inventory warnings and cautions enable smooth and effective management of your store, keeping you from arriving at dire states of low stock on famous things. The second stock is low; you will get an alarm advising you of the measure of stock left. You can choose what is viewed as low stock so you have adequate opportunity to restock before your clients’ even notification.
There are various advantages to this feature:
• There is consistently abundant stock for client needs.
• There is a decrease in stock waste.
• Command over inventory levels.
• Visibility of stock information across all divisions.
• Keeps a degree of operational control.
• Encourages you to keep a significant level of client experience when managing on-the-spot issues.
5. Transfer Management
Certain parts of a business may have higher requirements for a specific item than others. This is typically in the case of land-based stores, yet it can likewise influence online order satisfaction when the actual product comes from the isolated warehouse. These requirements could be because of patterns for e-commerce by and large or topographical contrasts.
Transfer management is highly effective in the following areas:
• Making item packages from the existing individual product, this can also be referred to as kitting
• Order picking – discovering products in a warehouse to fulfill an order
• Voice picking – enables representatives to easily find a product in a stockroom with straightforward voice prompts
• Pick-to-light (PTL) – enables representatives to easily items in a warehouse by following to LED lights and directions.
• Multi-area following
• Stock exchanges to different areas
6. Buying
Buying from providers has its own system that needs to find a place with your inventory management. A purchasing system feature will enable storekeepers to make their own buy orders. You would then be able to track and manage your purchase orders. This feature generally comes with formats that can be utilized to base your own off, enabling businesses to begin start from the ground up.
7. Order Management
Shopify has requested order management into the software; however, you can likewise add on extra applications that further improve these capabilities. A complete order management system causes your sales effectively, keeping steady over every single component.
There are various functions that are incorporated into this element, including the following:
• Management of all orders or sales
• The executives of valuing, including the enablement of custom estimating
• Sending of quotes
• Tracking orders
• Altering of orders
• Overseeing returns successfully and consistently
• Synchronizing orders with stock levels
• Featuring things prepared for shipment
• Enabling client assistance groups chipping away at an IVR framework to more readily serve clients with satisfactory and precise request data
• This thusly upgrades client reliability and lifts productivity
8. Reporting and Analytics
Reporting and analytics joined structure perhaps the main parts of maintaining a business that depends on the development of inventory. Approaching continuous information, for example, product sales, order tracking, and more can demonstrate basic to your prosperity.
The accompanying functions supported with successful reporting and analytics:
• Access to exact product information consistently
• Access to exact sales information consistently
• Manage your records payable and account receivable with proper access to revealing data.
• Item status
• Driver location
• Shipment data
• Item history
• Buy or deals history
• Returning clients versus new clients
9. Demand Forecasting
At the point when certain products are in demand, you need to guarantee you have sufficient stock of said lines. This can be accomplished with demand forecasting. In light of procurement history and different deals information, you can conjecture what items will be sought after for a future season.
Demand Forecasting accompanies the following advantages:
• Ensuring customers are always content with their favorite products being in stock and readily available
• Enables exceptional user experience
• Enables you to spend your budget wisely on items that will move quickly
• Gain an understanding of your best sellers
• Gain powerful insights for future sales periods
• Align sales insights with your marketing needs
• Increase store turnover
• Maximize store efficiency
10. Inventory App Integration
Having the option to incorporate your stock administration framework with a large group of different applications will assist you with taking advantage of the running of your Shopify store.
As a working computerized business, there are various applications and various bits of programming that can be utilized to smooth out business activities. Having a smooth and free progression of information and data between all applications is basic to get the full advantage of every one independently and every one of them in general.
Guaranteeing that your stock administration programming incorporates different applications will make all your stock information accessible for use in different applications. This opens up a universe of advantages for your business.
Conclusion
Managing your inventory can be improved to broad extents by utilizing the correct features to help your necessities. Open the conversation with your group to understand what features will best suit your inventory management process.