Inventory isn’t all equal. Some of it sells fast, some sells more slowly, and the rest may not sell at all. You need a system that can help you categorize it and make sense of it. If you can’t do this already, the time has come for you to upgrade your inventory app for small business with one that handles multichannel inventory management more effectively.
Why You Should Categorize Your Inventory
Inventory is easier to track when it’s well categorized. At the very least, you want to use labels such as slow-moving inventory, business inventory, and dead inventory. Each type of inventory requires daily monitoring.
The good news is that with a good mobile inventory app you can see the location and condition of the inventory at a glance, provided you use barcode tracking on location.
Slow-Moving Inventory
This is inventory that doesn’t sell as fast as you want it to. It can consist of expensive inventory, which has a naturally slower selling cycle than normal inventory, as well as products that are no longer seasonal, or that have fallen out of fashion. Slow-moving inventory can still be sold, but it’s important to do the math — does it sell fast enough for you to recover your expense?
Inventory forecasting for small business can help you better predict the performance of your slow-moving inventory.
Business Inventory
Inventory that moves from the shelf to your customers at a good rate is business inventory. Most of your inventory should be business inventory — if it’s not, you may be suffering from a serious overstock problem. It’s easy to tell business inventory just by looking at the rate at which it’s leaving your storehouse and stores.
Using a multiple location inventory app you can bring together data on this type of inventory and make sense of it. When defining this inventory, consider factors such as replenishment rate, profit margins, quantity left, or days in inventory for each product batch.
Dead Inventory
Dead inventory has been stuck in your location for more than 12 months. If we are talking about very expensive, specialty products, this period can be extended. Dead inventory may include inventory that has been returned in a damaged state or with the wrapping removed. Dead inventory can have a bad impact on your returns on your investment, which is why it has to be closely monitored.
The easy way to do this is by using an inventory app for small business. If some items are just not moving, consider giving them away in a promotion instead of throwing them away, provided of course that they are not perishable.
