5 ways to master your inventory during your holiday

On a normal day, it isn’t an easy task to keep track of your inventory; and during the holiday season or on a vacation period, this could be completely chaotic. In the E-commerce industry, the best way to keep everything under control is to handle everything beforehand, or by taking as much time in hand as possible.

Holidays are super exciting yet equally distracting when you are swamped with work. It becomes very difficult to remember everything that needs your attention for the completion of all the tasks at hand. 

Here are 5 effective ways that can prepare your inventory early and give you the time to enjoy your holiday and help you manage your task list efficiently, all at the same time even when you are overworked and loaded with too many unfinished jobs, right before or during your vacation.

1. Going through or examining the last year’s data:

Rather than assuming your sales picture or forecast, it is best that a company does it on the basis of numbers. When it is about which products to stock up on. You’ll make better choices with concrete data taken from your own inventory logs. 

During the time of any holiday season, it’s important to look at the data that was used during the last holiday season. Customers shop differently during any holiday season, and the type of products they purchase to gift, don’t always match up with the ones that they buy at any other time of the year.

But if you are on a personal holiday, data registered with the help of any inventory management software to keep a track of your inventory will be an easy way to fall back on.

Otherwise, your sales will not match up either to your expectation or exactly according to the data that is provided to you.  To complete your forecast, you will then want to fend it from some other sources. 

2. Predictions from credible sources:

When you use the data from the last year, as the backbone and compare the same with the current year, it’s time to find out how the sales performance of your company has grown over the period. Although, what is more important, is your current data on your hand. Because this data will always be considered to be more authentic and dependable. With the use of this data, you can use some incredible leads if you know where to find them: 

1. Ecommerce blogs and retail news– Trade news and blogs, as well as trustworthy bloggers and influencers, will always provide you with advice on which product will be the next big seller.
2. Competitor Sites:  it is important to be curious about knowing what products your competitors are working on? It is mandatory that you keep an eye on brands within your industry. This will not let you miss the latest trends otherwise.
3. Search Engine Data: SEO tools like Google Trends or Moz Pro reflect that the keywords people use in online searches including product inquiries. 

3. Inventory Auditing with Cost of Goods Sold:

Sometimes it might not be that your bestsellers will actually not turn out to be your most profitable product. Profitability could vary by the amount of the markup, but the other additional costs that are included are storage, shipping, storage, or special handling to be considered as well. 

4. Cost of goods sold Vs. Revenue generated:

Another accurate way to have your inventory audited is to check the cost of goods sold against the revenue that has been generated. In other words, it is not possible to take into account how much you are making from sales; but we have to take into consideration how much you or your company is losing, handling as well as delivering the inventory before the completed sales. 

It is not possible to always know the profitable product and help with the reordering process. It can also influence the kinds of promotions that you offer on days like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Super Saturday.

The inventory management system that your business has, can also be managed even when you are away from your workstation

5. Launch into Ecommerce:. 

Businesses that don’t own a website should establish one. The ones that already have a website should optimize it to cater to the holiday shoppers. Online stores not only expand your customer base, but they also make it easier for people to shop – especially in the current pandemic conditions.  Whether you own a grocery store, clothing boutique, or a baking shop, invest to advertise your holiday deals online. 

E-Commerce is the next step of your inventory stock management plan for the holiday season. Once you have audited everything and received your shipments, it’s time to display it on the website. Accurate inventory tracking makes online transactions easier as everything is automated and there are lower chances of error.  

The above-given solutions can and will always help you to have a less stressful holiday, only if the above pointers are followed accurately. 

We hope you have a great holiday ahead!