You should start using warehouse management software if you haven’t been already. Order fulfillment speed is also increased and your staff will waste less time searching for missing items or sifting through an overwhelming amount of inventory. When using inventory management systems, merchants can also incorporate barcode scanners and RFID technology to support the most up-to-date tracking possible. That’s why inventory management systems are the choice platform for ecommerce brands who want inventory tracking optimization and better accounting for their assets.

If your stock is too lean, you run the risk of delaying your delivery with back-orders. Real-time inventory tracking with accurate inventory reports can provide your information on your stock as it moves in and out of storage. That has major implications for those wishing to avoid dead stock and high storage costs to save money. The type of inventory you’re working with may influence which inventory management software you select. Look for features that focus on location and time-in-stock reporting if temperature control or freshness are important considerations in your inventory management. These tools provide real-time access to information such as demand, on-hand stock, total sales, tax information, and more.

Updated stock levels

To track products accurately, they can’t be mixed with other products. Once your business is on a steady trajectory and growing Inventory Tracking year-over-year, it’s common for your inbound and outbound logistics to take up more of your time and attention, as well.

You can also look into kitting if there are multiple SKUs that often sell as a single SKU number and ship together. Inventory tracking lists are a form of inventory control that organizes stock by category, description, quantity and location. These lists are updated and stored with manual documentation or digitally using inventory tracking software. Companies with multiple warehouse locations and global supply chains need a system that provides continuous, real-time tracking of materials and goods shipped, received and stored. Gathering and sharing this data can be challenging across solutions that can’t communicate. Choosing the right inventory tracking method comes down to various factors, including the scale of your warehouse operations, user licenses, budget and features.

Multiple location tracking

We’ve already alluded to this point, but bigger inventories are more complicated to manage. Obviously, ambitious entrepreneurs will always be looking for opportunities to grow. But as sales increase, so will inventory turnover, and managing this is undeniably tricky.

Cin7 has customized plans for small businesses, business-to-business and business-to-consumer companies, as well as enterprise businesses. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence. Manual inventory is best tracked using an inventory tracking spreadsheet. You must keep track of initial inventory, ending inventory, and received inventory. The speed at which your stock sells, or turns over, is vitally important to understand. This will help you avoid stocking items that don’t sell quickly in an online marketplace or elsewhere.

Tracking & Inventory System

Additionally, your stock levels provide a base for the other data that is tracked. With our https://www.bookstime.com/ software, you can order & track the supplies your facility and employees need from office and IT products to food & beverages and maintenance tools. TraceLink’s Smart Inventory Tracker is a mobile solution supporting the handling of serialized products across the supply chain and within distribution operations. Smart Inventory Tracker, provides a fully featured, easy to use application which runs on commercially available mobile devices deployed at distribution, packaging, and other operational facilities. Lightspeed Retail and Lightspeed eCom are an integrated system that allow you to manage your inventory data for both sales channels from one platform. You’ll be able to connect your webstore with your brick and mortar location’s inventory for streamlined sales and stock management.

• Zoho is our top-rated free inventory software for all small businesses, and its mobile app also makes it the best choice for entrepreneurs who do their work on the go.
• For one, you’re more likely to be able to compete with industry-leading fulfillment companies.
• By submitting this form, you agree that PLANERGY may contact you occasionally via email to make you aware of PLANERGY products and services.
• This will help you avoid stocking items that don’t sell quickly in an online marketplace or elsewhere.
• Buffer stock, or safety stock, is additional inventory you keep in case demand suddenly rises.
• While this is by no means an impossible or impassable task, it will require greater organization, and likely the help of sophisticated management software.

Sometimes brands don’t order enough and end up with out-of-stock signs . Other times, brands order too much upfront and can never sell through their product .

Inventory Tracking Challenges

Inventory tracking is one of the biggest challenges in managing a profitable and productive ecommerce business. Ideally, you’d have a system in place that ensures you always know how much inventory you have available, so you can excel at planning your supply chain management accordingly. But without efficient inventory tracking, it becomes increasingly likely you’ll encounter stockouts, delays, or excess capital tied up in inventory. Windward Software provides leading point-of-sale, accounting, and inventory control software for a variety of industries. Their real-time inventory software includes tools for managing and tracking inventory to improve cost control processes.

There’s no doubt inventory tracking becomes increasingly complicated as you add more sales channels and warehousing options (in-house, FBA, 3PL). The best way to fend off shortages, delays, discrepancies, or unnecessary inventory costs is with an innovative tracking system.

Tracking Methods

This analysis will give you insight into the value of your inventory. With that information you can prioritize the stock that is most important to your bottom line. An ABC analysis is also a great way to automate inventory replenishment, as you don’t have to guess which of your goods are high demand products. Companies and suppliers can share tracking data specific to their industry and use it to spot trends quickly.

• Manufacturers, B2B distributors, online sellers, and retailers can benefit from inFlow’s simple yet powerful software.
• Be sure to include not only yourself, but also anyone filling or counting inventory, and maybe even your accountant.
• Track each inventory item move, from purchase to warehouse bin to sales order, with the unique double-entry inventory system.
• The software includes powerful reporting and status updates with real-time global inventory visibility for all users.
• CRM for Higher Education is a system for automating all educational processes.
• Accurate inventory audits typically take hours, especially as your business grows.

First, you’ll be able to make proper decisions about product ordering. Calculating optimal reorder points, performing demand planning and forecasting, and more are all made easier when you have insight into inventory levels and movement. This, in turn, leads to greater ability to increase sales and maximize profits. It plays an important role in the relationship between customer satisfaction and inventory supply and demand. Manually tracking inventory with spreadsheets is time-consuming, prone to error and hard to scale. Upgrade to a tracking system that minimizes manual tasks and automatically updates data in centralized databases. Turnover is a ratio that reflects how many times stock has cycled through your supply chain—from the receipt of raw materials to the moment the product is sold—in a given period.