How do you keep track of stock levels in merchandising?

In my experience the best stock plan is to have a great planner. Planning in advance for any overstock will protect the company. A negotiated return agreement and good historical data will help the team forecast adequately and therefore not suffer huge losses.

Right stock levels is all about the right foundation for any retail store. It has deep implications on so many aspects: - Customer experience - Store not going out of stock - Possible revenue losses could be avoided - Customer loyalty towards the brand can be maintained - Possibility of what needs to be retained and what needs to be exited can be planned effectively It is that function of merchandising which has a deep impact on the overall profitability of the business since if there's no stock, then there can't be any sales.

No Stock = No Sales = No Business! it’s that simple ! Continual out of stocks will eventually lead to customers going elsewhere to shop

I'd like to emphasize that effective stock level management also plays a vital role in optimizing cash flow. By aligning your stock levels with customer demand, you can free up capital that would otherwise be tied up in excess inventory. This allows you to invest in other areas of your business, such as marketing, expansion, or new product development, ultimately contributing to long-term growth and profitability.

In my experience, Stock forecasting is key in achieving good stock levels of product assortment. Scheduling the right assortment backed by prehistoric data helps manage stock levels which also helps the profitability of your business.

The most common method that is generally seen in the industry is the days of inventory holdings. In FMCG and Grocery led businesses...it is quite common to see inventory levels with days holding and that's how category managers take decision of what needs to be done with the stock under each sub-category. In my experience...the foundation of the business always lies in the holding the right stock else...what's not working will continue to hold bulk of the money with no outputs or ROI in its real sense.

Measuring stock goes back to knowing how to effectively calculate the forecast and projections for a certain product or line and then working to attain a level that factors in the growth. Most businesses are not in business to look at if they don’t sell the product.

True to the above, seasonal sales eg Christmas, Easter, Back to school,Valentines Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day etc should be projected in advance taking into consideration geographical location of business (what would I consider appropriate stockholding without sitting with dead stock afterwards - using my sales history as a measuring tool) levels would also depend on your type of business requirements, what product is being sold being at the right place at the right time. Advertising measures need and helps precipitate stock level requirements.

Measuring stock levels is crucial for effective inventory management. You can do this using various methods, depending on your business needs: 1-Regular Physical Counts 2-ABC Analysis 3-Just-in-Time (JIT) Inventory 4-Safety Stock 5-Forecasting

There are so many softwares that assist one in measuring stock levels and other analytics related to inventory management but what experience has taught me is that there are seasonal buys and other shopping trends by customers that can catch someone off guard no matter the software being used and that is where experience, discretion and critical thinking comes into play to buffer some of these circumstances that could lead to running out of stock hence leading to loss of revenue.

Projecting your turn around time is extremely important to ensure stock is timeously on the shelf to meet customer demand. Costs/ profits effects stock replenishment as such correct projection is vital, sales history, events, geographical location to name but a few examples determines supply and demand, backup stock should be minimum as bulk stock should be on the shelf to increase sales. What kind of product I am selling? Expiration dates or perishable stock should be considered again product must be market related. Supply chain management is crucial to optimize stock levels meeting demand and sustaining profitability this also depending on the size of your business. Reordering stock that sells.

Optimization of stock levels is connected at a primary level in awareness of what's happening in the ecosystem. There are many factors that aid in optimising stock levels : - Seasonality of the products and it's categories - What's the current and future events that may create an impact on this (consider both online and offline events) - Are there new stock levels that may come up due to which the current ones needs to be managed effectively - Will there by special promo packs that may come up which may have an impact on the non-promo packs Well, these are just a few of the many that I've implemented over the years and they have had a huge impact in the overall outcome of the business that I have managed!

Tracking stock is a lot easier if you have it automated. Manually tracking inventory is very time consuming and tedious, so although it is suggested to check manually either annually or every 6 months, it is better for business if you can find a way early on to automate this pc. It will save a-lot of time.

Stock levels tracking has become a lot more organised... ...thanks to tons of software applications, tools and techniques that is making this endeavour both possible with a high degree of affordability. These are assisting in defining the ageing of the products in a clearer manner thereby helping the decision makers to arrive at the as is status instead of relying only on hear say thoughts. It is needless to say...that accountability of items that gets damaged during physical inventory checks will never lose its relevance since stock movements always goes through multiple hands despite having the tools in place.

By maintaining and being continuously aware of inventory movement (stockloss- theft internal or external, shrinkage etc) tracking sales, stocktakes.

Manual tracking is alright until you miss a piece. Currently looking for a way to keep track of wholesale, consignment, online webite and in-person sales. Using woo-commerce and square up now

One monitering is having a supplier ordering cycle. It's grouping of products by supplier respectively. Each supplier data must include rate of sale and stock available and buyers must determine whether to check it daily, weekly, etc I prefer weekly. In case of large business, scheduling days with suppliers is where by one has 12-20 suppliers for Monday monitoring, 16 for Tuesday to check,etc +27 826528674 for charity

Leveraging stock levels for merchandising involves strategic allocation, presentation, and promotion: 1-Prioritize Best-Sellers 2-Location-Based Allocation 3-Profitable Channels 4-Brand Presentation 5-Visual Merchandising 6-Customer Engagement

Basket merchandise is when you take average family customer products and spread them all over the show. Meaning make sure that every isle has a minimum of the "must have products" For wholesalers every isle a minimum of FMCG products. This will maximise profits by encouraging impulsive buying, making sure that every isle of the floor becomes valuable to a customer.

Rate of sale Replenishment rate and transit Best sellers tracking On hand accuracy Shelf capacity Back stock supplement

Sometimes a wave comes in where by you may feel like you have the wrong data as per your stock movement. The best way is to make sure that, you use optimal stocking formula i.e maximum inventory levels =?reorder point?+ reorder quantity – [minimum consumption × minimum lead time. It's very hard to predict this but it's the best way to make sure that you are always on the safe side.