What is inventory management and why is it essential for success?

For many businesses, physical stock is their biggest expense, and this is especially true in the convenience retail space. Properly managing this can make the difference between success and failure, which is why it’s so vital to have effective inventory management in place. 

What is inventory management? 

Inventory management refers to the way you control the physical stock in your store and is key for running a convenience store. You can use the following four steps to make balancing inventory easier: 

1. Stock holding   

Stock holding refers to how much stock and its potential profit is sat on your shelves, and the frequency in which your stock turns from purchase to sale.

2. Stock replenishment 

Stock replenishment is the fundamental convenience practice of ensuring that you have the right products and quantities to satisfy your customers’ demands. This enables you to be much more efficient when it comes to ordering goods from your supplier/s.  

3. Stock audit 

A stock audit is the crucial process of counting and adjusting the stock in your store to validate your stock holding. It helps to identify any product discrepancies and/or shrinkages caused by theft and wastage. 

4. Reporting 

By using an effective reporting system, you can monitor and make informed decisions about your stock. You can see what products you’re selling (profitable lines), how quickly they’re selling (stock turn) and how much profit (margin) you’re making. In addition to this you can identify slow movers and non-performing lines and replace them with new product ranges for better profit. 

Why is inventory management important? 

Good inventory management is essential to guarantee your business is making as much profit as possible while keeping up with your customers’ demands and staying ahead of the competition. If done properly, the benefits will include: 

• faster stock turnover ratios 
• less wastage  
• reduced costs  
• informed orders and purchasing decisions to ensure the best product range 

How do you implement inventory management?  

If you are serious about managing your stock, you’ll need the necessary tools for the job. Investing in a purpose-made convenience EPoS system for your inventory management process is one of the best ways to do this. 

Using an inventory management system like PayPoint One means you can manage your stock on the move in real-time, allowing you to track sales, orders and deliveries, reducing time spent on admin. 

Using the PayPoint One back office reports you can make better-informed decisions in key areas like ranging, pricing, stock management and promotion management. 

With a free mobile app, on-the-go stock management means you can edit product pricing, check stock, reduce shrinkage and wastage, wherever you are. Furthermore, the 24/7 connected cloud services mean you will never have to worry about losing any data – a backup is always readily available.  

Learn more about PayPoint One 

More and more retailers are investing in EPoS systems to get a grip on stock control. If you would like to take control of your inventory management, we can help. Read more about our future proof EPoS system, PayPoint One and get in touch with our friendly team to take your first step towards taking control of your stock.