Hi everyone! Zarte here! Be with you in a moment – I’m just going through all my stationery first...
...OK, and I’m with you. It’s fairly important for me to have a quick count of everything in my stationery cupboard once in a while so that I know what I need to order, and what I’m not using much of. However that’s nothing compared to the importance of effective and accurate stock management by business to whom the sale of tangible goods is the primary money earner.
Yet, despite how important it is, many businesses that we’ve dealt with and worked with, have frankly abysmal systems in place for stock management. As previously, there’s no denial from us that this blog article is to highlight the effectiveness of our Business Data Toolkit, to try and convert more people into customers for it, however I will look to clarify why. Both why stock management IS of such importance, but additionally why we think the Business Data Toolkit is the answer.
First, let me outline the usual mistakes. Primarily the main concern is how manual the whole process still is to most businesses. Stock being added/subtracted on individual pieces of paper, or spreadsheets on an order by order basis, with stock being checked up on by those whose responsibility it is to replenish as and when.
I’m not saying that this can’t function well a lot of the time, amongst an organised group of staff. People tend to get offended by you suggesting their practices are incorrect, as if you’re saying they must be failing. But I’m not – the end result can still be acceptable, even if the methodology is problematic. And it is, because when you have great levels of automisation available to you, then it makes sense to use it.
Because it only takes a couple of instances of someone forgetting to update a spreadsheet after an order – then leading to someone not realising they need to replenish some stock until it’s too late, to put yourself in a position where you’re letting customers down. Online business especially need to be aware of this, as an online marketplace almost unilaterally creates more competition, thus one negative experience can often be enough to put a customer off your brand for life. Online businesses will also, again, almost always, have a far tighter margin, meaning that losses of sales and stock through human error are an even more sizable blow.
The way forward simply has to be to try and remove the human error, allowing you to apply your staff to more tasks that require a human touch, or potentially, in some cases, save money by reducing staff levels altogether. To have a system in place whereby an order can go through, the pertinent details be stored, and stock be automatically readjusted leaves far less potential for things to go wrong. This can even be linked in such a way as to automatically generate reorder forms when something’s running near empty, meaning that there’s no need to be constantly, manually checking up on levels.
We understand that every business is an individual, and as such, some elements of human involvement may still be required. But that’s why with all our Business Data Toolkit customers, we work with them to give them a product that reflects their needs, as well as our design. Customisation options are vast, and varied, and designed to allow you to have a product that blends into your existing business, rather than imposing an entirely new way of doing everything on everyone from day one.
So have a think about whether now is the time for your business to embrace technology in a more positive way, and move your stock management to the Business Data Toolkit. As always, please do feel free to give us a call to have a chat over some of the finer points, or just to clarify anything we’ve said in this, or any of other our articles on the matter.
Until next time,
Zarte