All You Need To Know About Retail Inventory Management Software

By Author: Kevin Smith
Total Articles: 15
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Your retail inventory is costing you very high; there are consistent instances of products getting out of stock; there are a lot of obsolete products in your inventory; expenditure of storage is at peak; customers are being shipped wrong products; lead times are getting imbalanced; data entry errors are seen in your databases, and many more – all these are symptoms of poor inventory management. There is one solution to all these issues, and that is, implementation of inventory management software.

What is inventory management?

Inventory management is the process of procuring, storing, warehousing, processing, and management of raw materials, semi-finished products, and finished items.

What is an inventory management system?

An inventory management system is an efficient process of managing inventory by using inventory management principles coupled with hardware devices and software. It helps retailers track goods across the supply chain.

Businesses must have competent and effective retail inventory management software to cope with the changes in the demands ...
... of customers and ensure smooth operations.

The key lies in proper planning of the purchase, storage, accounting, supply, and distribution of products to avoid overstocking and understocking.

The inventory management system can handle this type of planning, and hence, it is an essential tool for business owners.

Inventory management software tracks the purchase of raw materials, production of semi-finished and finished products, transfer of items between head office and stores, and sale of items that make up the complete product journey.

Key Features of a Retail Inventory Management Software

Tracking of items

The inventory management software can maintain the right amount of inventory for each product item to ensure that there is no overstocking or understocking. It is possible since it supports the replenishment of items using inventory management concepts like economic order quantity (EOQ), reorder level, lead time, safety stock, minimum stock, and maximum stock. Further, it also helps in maintaining control over the warehouse management system. Inventory management systems also track perishable items that are about to expire. Such features are of immense help in the management of supermarkets.

Notifications on stock levels

When the inventory crosses the maximum limit, the inventory management software sends out a notification to the owner. Such a notification helps owners to stop procuring more items and enables them to clear out the extra stock through some promotional offers and discounts and ensure proper inventory control. On the contrary, when the inventory reduces below a threshold limit, the owners are notified of the understock. Such an understocking notification enables the owners to place orders to their vendors as soon as possible to avoid stockouts and dealing with angry customers. Thus, it proves to be an efficient stock management mechanism.

Easy identification of products

Most of the inventory management systems have the feature of barcode scanning to ensure easy identification of the product during stock transfers, sales, and physical stock taking.

It also helps define serial control and lot control for inventory items and proves to be an asset in stores management.

Handling the defective stock

An automated inventory management software process ensures that the time to return of the defective stock is significantly reduced. The inventory management software ensures that the status of the defective product is immediately added to every step of the supply chain affected by the return. Effective stock maintenance goes a long way in improving the profitability of the retail business.

Recording procurement orders

The inventory management software has a feature of recording all the orders placed to vendors for buying raw materials or finished products for stocking in the inventory. Such a feature enables the owners to be clear on what products are in stock, what needs to be ordered in more quantities, and any breakage or expiration issue with the received products.

The stock register maintained in inventory software is highly useful as it provides accurate inventory information. It also provides inventory valuation as per LIFO, FIFO, and Weighted Average Methods.

In-transit tracking

The inventory management software has the feature of tracking the delivery of goods from the supplier to the customer. Some inventory management systems also allow the real-time tracking of in-transit goods through RFID technology. It helps in running an efficient material management system.

Physical stock take and stock adjustments

The inventory management software supports taking a physical stock take using barcode/RFID technology and reduces the overall time to complete the stock-taking activity. It also has the feature to record stock shortage and excess.

Generating insightful reports

The inventory management software has the in-built feature of generating reports for the owners to assess and make further decisions. These reports may pertain to sales per product category, sales per item, sales per customer, sales volume per day or month, sales in peak hours, and similar other reports to understand the customer behavior. Such reports enable the owners to decide new strategies for improving the sales of slow-moving items or offering discounts on overstocked items, etc.

Multilocation and multichannel management

There are possibilities of owners having multiple stores, POS, or warehouses to manage. The inventory management software has an integrated feature of managing the inventory at multiple locations to avoid confusion and save costs. It makes it possible to know the availability of products from the POS system at one store to another store and head office.

Forecasting of demand

The retail inventory management system can have the added feature of storing historical data, and by using that, the business owners can forecast future demand for products.

How to buy inventory software for your retail store?

Before buying the ideal inventory management software for your business, you must conduct a complete search and comparative analysis of the various products based on price, features, deployment types, number of users, and many more factors. The primary aim must be to choose a product that matches your business requirements.

Ari’s Inventory Management Software enables the businesses to up their game at decision making related to sales to customers and procurement from vendors. It has the capabilities of barcode identification, RFID for physical stock counting, tracking of the product movements, and insightful analytic reports to give a better idea of the inventory to the decision-makers. Ari provides a combination of retail software and inventory management software to make both the processes efficient at a lower cost.

Worried about your inventory? Do not fret, just reach out to us, and we will take care of it!

Ari, the premium retail management software, is a Web Masters’ Product. The company has earned recognition and reputation as an industry leader in the IT sector.