Your inventory is the most important part of your business. Whether you’re doing a retail business or selling online, inventory forms the pillars of your brand. If you’re managing it carelessly and or haven’t even thought about it, it’s time that you wake up. Understand that it is your inventory that can make you your customer’s hero. The importance of inventory management has a direct impact on the way your brand comes across in your customers’ eyes. So, pull up your socks!
Inventory can have an immense impact on your business. It helps you create a brand for yourself. On the other hand, your inventory also helps you take your business to the next level. This can mean helping you set foot in the global markets, reach out to your customers in your neighborhood, and more.
But, this is only when you manage your inventory effectively. The importance of inventory management must be understood for any business, no matter which industry. Whether you’re selling beauty and wellness products, clothes, shoes, or food items. Inventory management is equally important for you.
Neglecting your inventory can only have an adverse impact on your business. So, it’s better to wake up to the alarming signs in your business and act today. However, it is natural to be confused about this matter. If you’re thinking where to start managing your inventory and why you should do it, you’re at the right place. Read on to find out the importance of inventory management for your online business.
Importance of Inventory Management: What is the Concept Behind it?
Inventory management has an important role to play in your business. But it won’t matter unless you know what it is.
One-third of the businesses miss a deadline because their inventory is not managed. Understand that inventory management is a way to monitor your inventory. Because it is your inventory that the customer physically receives, you need to keep a track of it at various levels. From managing your stock levels to determining the quality of inventory, inventory management does a lot of things for your business.
Moreover, it is responsible for the end to end functioning of your inventory. Here’s what inventory management does for you-
- Identifies products that will soon turn out of stock
- Keeps a track of inventory that is not selling fast
- Helps you audit your inventory for quality analysis
- Makes sure that the right product reaches the right customer
- Helps you save costs and time
- Avoids your inventory from perishing or expiring and more
13 Reasons Why You Need to Know the Importance of Inventory Management
Now that you know the concept of inventory management, you must make your mind as soon as possible. Because the more time that you spend thinking about whether you should analyze your inventory or not, the more will your business suffer. In case you’re still thinking whether you need inventory management, take a look below. We’ve gone ahead and compiled 13 reasons demonstrating the importance of inventory management for your business-
Increase Your Competitive Ability
The importance of inventory management comes from the fact that it lets you increase your competitive ability in the market. It helps you directly enhance your market shares and pave the way for more business. One of the biggest examples is Apple that manages its inventory in a way that gives it an excellent advantage. There are various factors that are taken into consideration when determining competitive strength for a business. Inventory happens to be one of the most essential of these.
Never Lose a Sale Opportunity
Most sellers lose opportunities for sale by not having a proper inventory management system in place. In other words, most of their inventory is out of stock when the customer comes to make a purchase. As a result, the customer moves away to the competition to complete the purchase. The point is that the customer wants a product. So, if they don’t find it with you, they’ll buy it from someone else. This way you not only lose an opportunity for sale but also a customer that coils have been an invaluable component of your business.
Improve Your Service Level
All businesses want to make their customers happy. They want that when customers purchase a product they come back to the store and purchase more. While this is what one should aim in a business, it is often difficult to achieve. However, with smart inventory management practices, it is no longer a dream. In other words, the importance of inventory management is that it matches customer requests swiftly and helps in catering to their needs on time. Ultimately, this raises the satisfaction of the customers.
Reduce Storage Costs
The importance of inventory management is that it helps in reducing your business costs significantly. It takes your business from where it is currently to where you want to reach. A lot of businesses end up spending twice on their storage costs. This leads to a waste of money and the burden of additional expenses. If you’re starting small all this might seem quite overwhelming. Therefore, by managing inventory you can optimize your space and find areas of improvement. This in turn helps in reducing costs and raising productivity.
Turnover Your Inventory Fast and Drive Revenue
When you’re selling large quantities of products, you might not realize that some of your inventory might be sitting idle. While some of your products are the best selling in the market, there might be some that don’t sell well. And because you have already invested in such inventories, you’ll have to make a decision about them. Remember that through proper inventory management practices, you not only increase your inventory turnover but also drive revenues from it at a faster pace.
Utilize Your Inventory Storage Space Better
The importance of inventory management goes a long way in utilizing your inventory storage space better. You might have a big warehouse but if you’re not managing your inventory property, it will seem like sull. Even a small space when managed properly can sort things out and help you increase productivity. Moreover, when you utilize your warehouse better, you will have more than enough space to accommodate more inventory.
Make Accounting Activities Better
As a business, it is important to control and plan your production and sales. Moreover, you might have multiple teams working together at several levels. This means while every other department will be putting in all the efforts to make your business a success, the finances will be handled separately. If your inventory is managed properly, half of the work of your teams will be done. inventory management makes business activities much easier and helps you gain an edge in the market.
Get a Safety and Environmental Advantage
When you are managing your inventory, you will be consistent with the safety and environmental factors. In other words, you will generate a lot less waste and make your inventory more compliant with the environment. Additionally, you will also create an environment where the safety of your inventory is arranged and managed well in your warehouse.
Build Confidence with Your Customer
Inventory management helps in building confidence with your customers. You get to tell them that you are a reliable brand always ready to serve them. This is another importance of inventory management. It helps you cater to the needs of the customers on time and always keep your stock units up to date. So, whenever the customer comes to your store looking for a product with fast delivery, you will be able to cater to them seamlessly.
Enhance Product Quality
If you think that inventory management has nothing to do with product quality you’re wrong. One of the importance of inventory management is that it enhances your product quality to a great level. It also impacts your business efficiency on an overall level. If you’re manufacturing goods, it helps you focus on producing the best quality finished products.
Increase Efficiency and Productivity
Undoubtedly, if you are managing your inventory, your efficiency and business productivity will rise. You will be able to do a lot more with all the available resources that you have. In other words, even your staff will be able to do more in their day and your business will be able to cater to more number of customers.
Drive Repeat Purchases
Repeat customers are always desirable by the new businesses. When you’re selling your inventory which is good in quality and delivers on time, it is natural that customers will come to you. Therefore, you will be able to drive revenues and earn a reputation in the market.
Avoid Interruptions in Operations
You can avoid interruptions in your operations with good inventory management. The importance of inventory management reflects from the fact that it helps establish a seamless flow of operations in a business. Ultimately, this practice makes everybody’s job a lot easier.
Importance of Inventory Management: Conclusion
Now that you know why you should manage your inventory effectively, start doing it. There’s no reason why you should delay the effective management of inventory and lose out on business. Get an upper hand over your competitors and set the right foot with your customers. Remember the importance of inventory management and drive revenue no matter which business you run. Make sure that you have a good shipping partner so that your inventory reaches your customer safely. Try Dash101 and start shipping at the lowest fares starting Rs 23/50 grams to over 26000 Pin codes in India.
