E-commerce inventory management is one of the pillars of logistics. For e-tailers, it’s a major challenge that impacts not only sales, but also customer satisfaction.
In this article, find out how to turn inventory management into a major asset for your business.
For over 10 years, e-commerce has been growing steadily and rapidly, and now represents a significant market for retailers in all sectors. However, 2020 marks a turning point in the growth of this market with the COVID-19 pandemic; new health standards and the closure of physical stores are leading to an explosion in online sales. That’s why it’s interesting to look at the logistical processes involved in e-commerce and see how they can impact the profitability of an online store. One of these processes is e-commerce stock management, which is vital if orders are to be honored, long-term profitability is to be achieved, and customer satisfaction is to be maximized.
Why monitor and improve e-commerce inventory management?
Inventory management is essential for e-commerce, as it has a direct impact on customer satisfaction. A customer who can’t find a product in stock on your site is likely to look elsewhere for it. What’s more, insufficient stock can lead to delivery delays and affect your company’s reputation.
1. Real-time stock synchronization across all sales channels
To avoid out-of-stock sales, connect your warehouse inventory directly to your sales source with a solution capable of providing real-time feedback, so that products purchased by your customers are immediately deducted from the stock available for sale, and offers are updated. So, even if products haven’t yet left your warehouse and are therefore still part of your actual stock, they are already deducted from the stock available for sale and are no longer available for purchase online.
Real time is all the more important if you sell on several sales channels, as receiving orders simultaneously on your online store and marketplaces can easily create stock errors.
2. Real-time order centralization and routing
If you have several warehouses, global e-commerce stock management is not enough. You may receive an order for a product that’s in stock, but kept in a different warehouse from the rest of the order. At that point, you’re forced to ship several different packages, or to send the product in question to the warehouse where the rest of the order will be prepared. A waste of time and resources that can quickly become considerable.
To avoid this, Shippingbo lets you centralize and manage the stock of all your warehouses from a single back-office, and create automatic routing rules for your orders. We’ll tell you more at the end of the article.
3. Order picking and its interaction with inventory
The primary criterion for customer satisfaction when purchasing online is not the product received, but the quality of the service provided. So it’s vital to optimize order preparation to reduce delivery times and shipping errors, while controlling the cost to the company.
To achieve this, it is possible to change warehouse workflows with preparation lists, intelligent warehouse picking and the use of PDAs, as well as to use a back-office to centralize receipts, restocking, replenishment and returns.
How can you improve your e-commerce stock management?
Inventory management is crucial to the success of any business. This is even truer in e-commerce, where customers are accustomed to fast delivery times and high product availability. High-performance inventory management software can help you optimize your stock, manage your orders and improve your inventory. Discover the basics of e-commerce inventory management in this article.
1. Real-time management
When the volume of orders becomes too great, and from many different sources simultaneously, it’s vital to manage your stock in real time. Fortunately, there are now a number of multi-channel solutions that enable you to manage your stock as each order is received.
2. Automatic activation/deactivation of offers
The aim of automated stock management is to activate and deactivate offers instantly in the event of a product being out of stock. To do this, you need to know which offers are concerned… and that’s the challenge of e-commerce! It would be unfortunate to forget just a few.
3. Setting up a buffer stock
To secure your stock, it may be wise to set up a buffer stock: this involves deactivating offers before the stock runs out. Keep a few units of the product as a safety margin: a stocked product may be a little damaged and therefore unsaleable. A buffer stock will avoid having to cancel an order for this reason.
4. Use appropriate inventory management software
Inventory management software will help you manage your stock and orders in real time. Opt for software specially designed for e-commerce, such as a Warehouse Management System (WMS), which includes functions such as in/output management, picking session settings and PDA picking.
5. Anticipate replenishments
Buffer stock can also be your replenishment alert. Don’t wait until you’re out of stock to order products! Take into account your delivery lead time and your daily order volume to determine your replenishment alert threshold.
Managing your stock correctly also helps you avoid overstocking, wasted warehouse space and high stock valuation.
Finally, good warehouse stock management also helps to avoid overstocking, wasted warehouse space and high stock valuation.
Improve your e-commerce inventory management with Shippingbo
The basis of e-commerce is to master your logistics perfectly before placing large volumes of orders. Good e-commerce stock management* guarantees that all your customers’ orders will be satisfied.
A satisfied customer is a customer who will come back to buy from you, who will tell their friends and family about your products, and who will leave a positive online review that will encourage other potential customers to buy on marketplaces.
When you have a majority of positive reviews, marketplaces put you in the spotlight, giving you greater visibility and therefore more sales!
