If you were to guess about the biggest challenge in the eCommerce industry, what would it be? Ask any industry giant and they’ll tell you its inventory maintenance.
Keeping a close eye on inventory is the most important aspects of running an eCommerce platform and at the same, it’s also one activity that’s the most challenging, time-consuming, and prone to inaccuracies. This is especially true if your items are listed on multiple eCommerce platforms and if you’re utilizing multiple fulfillment warehouses.
If you’re not effectively dealing with your inventory, two things can happen and neither is particularly good for either you or your customers. First, you run the risk of overstocking goods, tying up capital that could be used for more important company priorities. Second, if you’re playing it safe and not stockpiling enough inventory, you will be unable to fulfill orders and risk losing your customers and spoiling your eCommerce relationships. Consumers are trained to get satisfaction at a click of a button and getting a “not available” reply from an eCommerce marketplace will mean that they’ll simply find it somewhere else and you run the risk of them not visiting you again.
Real-time Inventory Updates
In this eCommerce era, everything can be had with a snap of a finger (or click of a button). Gone are the days when you can rely on manual labor to accurately track inventory. There are plenty of apps and tools available for tracking inventory regardless of whether you’re local or positioned around the globe.
With effective tracking tools in place, a business owner can instantly see:
- Where inventory is sitting and in what quantity
- Which products are selling well and which are not moving
- Inventory adjustments needed to accommodate demand for saleable items
- Tracking of items being returned
- Finer details on movement for best and worst performing items
A reliable inventory system not only provides information needed to improve your overall business processes, it ultimately leads to improved customer satisfaction. Whenever a customer drops by your shop, regardless if it’s online or offline, you want them to make a purchase and return frequently. Consumers can get easily discouraged if items they seek are not available and studies show it affects future business. It’s very easy to get tagged by a negative experience and consumers will just move on to the next opportunity,
Since 1991 EDI Options has been helping companies manage real-time inventory and track sales. Our mission is to help customers manage current demand while constantly planning for future eCommerce marketplace opportunities.
