What Is E-Commerce Inventory Management? Plus 5 Best Practices

If you're not using e-commerce inventory management yet, you’re missing a trick. It’s expected that nearly 60 million internet users in the UK alone will make an e-commerce purchase in 2022.?

To keep up — and to keep growing your business — you need to digitise too. This means finding the right tech solutions for e-commerce inventory management.?

Let’s take a closer look.

What is e-commerce inventory management?

E-commerce inventory management is an automated approach to sourcing, storing, and selling your e-commerce products. It’s about utilising technology so you can quickly and easily see:

? How much stock you have

? The price you should sell stock for

? Where to keep stock

? How long to keep stock for

This involves creating a new digital system that makes it easy for you to collect and view all of the relevant inventory info.?

Why use an e-commerce inventory management system?

When it comes to inventory management, we often hear the old adage, ‘If it isn't broken, don’t fix it’. But…the notion that traditional practices aren’t broken just simply isn’t true. When you look at the enormous benefits available to those using a modern e-commerce inventory management system, you realise just how much you’re missing out on.

So what kind of benefits can your company expect if it makes the switch??

Better stock management

E-commerce inventory management helps businesses prevent out-of-stocks. You can see real-time inventory stock levels and even get automated alerts when fast-moving items run low. This means you get to take action before low stock becomes a problem.?

Access to data

We don’t think we’re overstating the case when we say that data gives us the power to improve everything we do. It helps us identify process inefficiencies, so we can consistently improve the way we work.?

There are very few inventory management problems that can’t be solved — but you need data to help you identify those problems.?

5 best practices for using an e-commerce inventory management system

Want to get the most out of a new e-commerce inventory management system? Then check out these best practice tips.?

1. Keep an inventory of safety stock

As we touched on earlier, it’s difficult to predict when someone will make an online purchase. Your e-commerce shop doesn’t have set opening hours — people shop online at all times of the day and night.?

So with that in mind, online retailers need to ensure they have enough inventory available at all times to prevent out-of-stocks.

2. Audit regularly

The world and technology are constantly changing. Consumer habits are evolving at a rapid pace, as is the way we manage a business.?

As time goes on, you need to regularly audit your e-commerce inventory management system to ensure it can keep up with new demands.

3. Use your data

Inventory management systems for e-commerce businesses can uncover a huge range of insights. Data is collected with every purchase, every inventory reorder, and every return.?

Allocate time to make use of this data. The insights you gain will help you make better decisions about stocking, promotions, reordering and warehouse space optimisation.?

4. Be smart with storage

Real estate costs are one of the biggest outgoings for any business. You can start managing your warehouse space better using a smart e-commerce inventory management platform.?

Poor-performing items can be reduced to clear space, allowing you to scale back your warehouse space or make way for faster-selling products.

5. Use technology to help

The sheer amount of data that e-commerce inventory management tools offer can leave you feeling like a kid in a sweet shop. There’s so much data available but how do you make sense of it??

Let technology help. A smart software platform (like Workhorse ) helps you to manage data better and gives you insight into how well your e-commerce inventory management is doing — and where you might need to improve.?

In e-commerce, knowing your inventory inside and out is crucial.?

Get in touch with the Workhorse team and let us show you how easy e-commerce inventory management can be.?