Delivery and Shipping for Small Businesses After the COVID-19 Pandemic

As the risk of the coronavirus dramatically changes the landscape of retail and consumer shopping behaviors, small businesses are among those most affected. If your small business is struggling to navigate the changes the coronavirus has caused, the right strategy can help you adapt to serve your customers better.  What Is Retail Delivery? For the past…

10 Reasons Why You Need Automated Inventory Management and Reporting

Inventory count accuracy was one of the top five priorities for distribution centers in 2019. To keep pace with the ever-tightening demand for accurate inventory counts, warehouses and retailers need automation. Automated inventory monitoring is more reliable than manual methods, and it frees up valuable time for small business owners and logistics managers.  So, what is an automated inventory system?…

The Rising Issues in Inventory Management Today and 7 Tips to Stay Ahead of the Curve

As the world increasingly turns to online shopping and expects more from retailers, effective inventory management is crucial. The need to continuously improve operations is coming into sharper focus. Getting the right amount of merchandise to the right place at the right time requires a proactive approach. Inventory managers must develop best practices to avoid…

5 Ways to Improve Warehouse Inefficiencies

Minimizing inefficiencies is a goal of warehouse management teams everywhere. Increasing warehouse productivity has benefits for the bottom line, customer satisfaction, accuracy and many other parts of your operations. Here are five factors to consider if you want to strengthen warehouse efficiency. 1. Automating Processes If you want to boost efficiency, automation is probably at…

A Guide to Superior Warehouse Customer Service

A warehouse is an integral part of customer service. It’s the last touchpoint for an order before it reaches the customer. Make any errors here, and your customer service representatives (CSRs) may hear about it in the future. Warehouse processes have a significant effect on the speed at which customers get their orders and the…

Going Green: Creating Eco-Friendly Warehouses

Warehouses have the potential to be eco-friendly environments. Environmentally friendly efforts in warehouses can help both your business goals and the plant. You can reduce your utility bills, minimize your carbon footprint and boost your reputation, all while helping the planet. How to Go Green in the Warehouse There are many ways to implement green…

Pipeline Inventory vs. Decoupling Inventory

If you work with inventory, you may have heard of terms like “pipeline stock” and “decoupling stock.” While they cover similar concepts, these two words have different meanings, and understanding them can help you manage your products effectively. What Is Pipeline Inventory? Pipeline inventory or stock refers to transit stock, or items that are in…

Leveraging Reorder Points

Leveraging Reorder Points to Maintain Stock Levels Without some statistical analysis, knowing when to reorder stock can feel like a guessing game. While you can’t predict the future, Finale Inventory is the next best thing. Our intuitive stock management software uses a sophisticated reorder point formula based on the inventory replenishment rules you set. Our…

Why You Should Be Using Automated Kitting

Automated kitting is an excellent way to improve your efficiency and speed up the fulfillment of certain types of orders. It maximizes the work of your skilled and highly paid workers by moving the more tedious tasks to automated storage and retrieval systems (AR/RS). Automated kitting can speed up processing common purchases or improve the…

What Is Gap Analysis? The Secret to Retail Business Growth

Gap analysis is an excellent way to ensure that your business is reaching its fullest potential. It allows you to identify areas where you could be improving by comparing current success with attainable goals. Let’s take a look at inventory gap analysis in strategic management and how it can work for your business. What Is…

How to Choose Your Point of Sale System: A Full Guide for Brands

According to recent reports, 41% of consumers expect in-store sales associates to know about their previous purchases. As a retailer, you may be wondering how you can collect that kind of data and use it to make your in-store experience that much better. The answer lies with a sophisticated point of sale system (POS). A POS system…

6 Reasons Why Excel Inventory Management Will Not Help You Grow

Many small businesses use Excel as their initial inventory management tool as it is easy to use and readily available on most computers. For a short while, using Excel for inventory management works just fine for many small companies. As their inventory management needs become more complex, business owners learn the hard way that Excel is…

How to Prevent Overselling

As a retailer in the 21st century, you have many options for getting your products into the hands of customers. You might have brick-and-mortar locations and an online store, and you might sell through marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon or Etsy. All the options available mean that you can easily expand your customer base and…

Why Does Inventory Management Matter?

If you’ve ever ordered something only to receive an out-of-stock notification a short while later, you probably already understand some of the reasons why inventory management is important. Organizing the items you have available to sell — plus the goods you need to produce your company’s products — will help you streamline your services and systems…

Transitioning From a Physical Business to an Online Store

For retailers like you, taking your business online is the next big milestone. The trend toward online shopping has been rising steadily each year. In 2017, e-commerce brought in $2.3 trillion in sales, and by 2019, that number had increased to $3.5 trillion. By 2023, projections say total sales will rise to $6.5 trillion. One thing is clear — the internet…

Different Inventory Types

Managing Inventory Types Inventory management is the balancing act of having the right amount of stock at the right time to meet demand. It involves predicting sales and ordering new stock just in time to meet that demand. Having too much inventory can cause issues for your company. In some cases, products can expire or…

Anticipatory Inventory Management

If your business produces or sells goods, you know that it’s crucial to make sure your inventory includes enough stock to meet demand at any given time. For many businesses, anticipation inventory is an effective way to meet this need. What Is Anticipation Inventory? Anticipatory inventory management is the practice of procuring excess inventory to…

The Importance of Sales Forecasting

To run a business, it’s essential to keep track of your sales and spending. At the same time, diligent tracking is irrelevant if you notice a substantial amount of unnecessary spending and unexpectedly low sales. If you want to maximize profits, your business should consider taking advantage of the benefits of sales forecasting. If you feel like…

Benefits of a Purchase Order System

At some point, your business may need to purchase items or services from an outside supplier. Your orders will likely come with a record of your purchase from the supplier. What if your order doesn’t arrive on time or contains the wrong items? A purchase order system allows you to hold yourself accountable for the money your company spends.…

How to Run an Inventory Audit

Inventory audits can be challenging, but they offer important insights for growing businesses. Whether you are running an inventory audit for tax purposes or to verify the units you have for your own records, it’s important to know what to look for in an inventory audit and how to resolve any issues so you can optimize…