Running a wholesale business, means you are dealing with buying and selling stock on a regular basis. Therefore, the primary aspect for any wholesale business owner boils down to Inventory Management.
If you are a wholesale merchant, knowing ‘what is inventory management‘ is essential. Since you are receiving products from suppliers and then selling it to your customers, I’m sure you realize the importance of managing inventory.
There are many ways to manage inventory, however, the most common one among wholesalers is using spreadsheets with various columns to define product name, price, quantity. And, every time a sale is made business owners need to ensure immediate deduction to maintain accurate inventory flow.
Such labor-intensive process needs constant manual monitoring to ensure every transaction is accounted for; however, this method can lead to major pitfall of human errors. Ultimately, the more automation you use in your inventory management, the less paperwork you’ll have to deal with.
With the advent of technology, cloud-based inventory management software solution is already helping many business owners to enhance business operations by allowing them with:
- Centralized access to all your products
Dealing with a single product line or multiple categories, having access to your products from one place will offer clear stock visibility and make management easy. With an ability to track products across your multiple warehouses, you will eliminate the risks of stock outs and late order fulfillment too. - Centralized access for all customers
Using multiple accounts/spreadsheets to track and manage your daily sales transactions, I’m sure is confusing and time-taking, both. Having an ability to consolidate all your orders details at one place, is making it easy for many business owners to access, as well as, process customer’s orders in a full-proof way.
- Instant access to sales orders details
Another major challenge to wholesalers, is not being able to process customer’s orders in time. Receiving your customer’s orders via email, fax, or even messages can lead to a delay in shipping and fulfillment. And, with the increasing risk of details or messages not being delivered in time, can lead to loss of many potential sales orders. Inventory software is allowing wholesalers an ability to track sales orders details in real-time.
- Automatic stock updates
Managing multiple orders in a day, it is important that you update stock ins and outs to ensure adequate availability as per requirements. An inventory management software will help you automate your stock updates in real-time. This way, it becomes easy to track requirements and make informed decisions for your wholesale business.
- Re-order notifications
Nothing else can affect a customer more than not being able to receive their purchase orders in time. Processing multiple orders in a day, there are chances of missing out on re-ordering products in time. And, procuring products after the customer has already placed an order can delay fulfillment process and result to a poor customer experience. Inventory automation does not only update stock levels but also offers an inventory lock feature that will alert you to re-order stock. Having an ability to do so you can eliminate ugly scenarios and ensure a smooth stock flow as per requirements.
- Provide self-assistance to choose products
Many wholesale business owners are already gaining a competitive advantage by offering a more personalized shopping experience. Being able to showcase a range of product collection and allow customers to make purchases within the same dashboard, is what you should adapt for your wholesale business. Inventory software is helping many business owners to sync their product offerings at one place, from where you can invite your customers to access and place their orders in real-time.
- Tracking order fulfillment status in real-time
Being in a wholesale business you’ll mostly be fulfilling orders in bulk, therefore ensuring a quick and safe delivery can be a challenge, especially when done manually. Unable to track your customer’s orders status, can lead to unexpected delays and ruin the customer’s experience. Automating your inventory management will help you immediately spot delays and take measures to enhance fulfillment.
- Accept multi-currency purchase transactions
As and when your business grows, customers from across the globe will get inquisitive about your brand. This can open greater opportunities for your wholesale business only if you allow them an easy transaction. Not being able to pay in their currency, can create an impression in customer’s mind that your service is not available in their country. Allowing your customers to transit in their own currency will make them feel safe, who in turn, will stick to your wholesale brand for making future purchases.Find out more benefits of cloud-based inventory management software.
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