Why is wholesale inventory management important for your business?
Wholesale inventory management is an important function for any firm that purchases and sells items on a regular basis.
Every other supply chain function, from order processing to warehouse management to fulfillment to shipping and last-mile delivery, requires well-regulated wholesale inventory that is in-stock and correctly recorded.
Inventory counts, missing or damaged inventory, and scheduling can all lead to problems like overstocking and shortages that slow down the entire supply chain.
What characteristics should a good wholesale inventory management system have?
In contrast, effective wholesale inventory management enhances visibility throughout the supply chain and assures that items move efficiently and smoothly. This naturally improves productivity and lowers costs and lead times across your business.
The quantity and condition of your available stock will have a major impact on how successful your wholesale inventory management program is — so when comparing an IMS (whether you sell DTC, B2B, or both), look for one that can simplify their operations.
Here are a few things to consider when selecting an inventory management system for wholesale transactions.
Integration across several platforms
With the right wholesale IMS, you won’t have to worry about how your organization manages inventory data across multiple sales channels. This allows inventory data to be automatically synchronized across all platforms, and all sales order information is accurately gathered in one location.
This reduces issues like missing information, delayed orders, and mistake entries while speeding up order processing and fulfillment.
Because all sales channels are handled via the same system, you can guarantee that you don’t oversell products on one channel and run out of stock across all channels.
Inventory management in real time
To allow you to track inventory movement and levels at any moment, an IMS with real-time inventory management capabilities will be included.
This feature allows you to monitor the status of your inventory in real time and assess how much is on hand at any one point, allowing for fast and correct strategic judgments.
Using real-time inventory visibility, you’ll be able to see when you’re running low on goods and reorder right away instead of letting stockouts occur. You could possibly overlook the best reorder window with period inventory counts.
Notifications when it’s time to reorder
Modern wholesale inventory management systems also enable you to implement smart warehousing strategies, such as setting automated reorder point notifications. With these set up, you’ll get automatic notifications when each SKU’s stock levels reach reorder points.
With a complete inventory management solution, you will never have to worry about missing out on vital supplies or inventory reorder points again.
Forecasting with accuracy
The ability to make data-driven judgments and plan for the future is at the heart of good inventory management. As a result, your wholesale inventory management software should have strong forecasting capabilities to help you budget for cost and operational efficiency.
You can use your IMS to make accurate predictions based on past sales data, current sales performance, and inventory levels. This will assist you in planning your procurement appropriately so that you may always be ready to satisfy customer demand without overstocking or understocking stocks.
The analytics reporting option enables you to create reports and dashboards for your applications
Last but not least, your wholesale inventory management software should include strong analytics capabilities so you may acquire reliable information on various inventory management KPIs.
It’s time to go back and identify where you need to improve. You can use this information to brainstorm ways in which your management procedures may be optimized for improved outcomes.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, a good inventory management system needs to provide your business with the ability to have full visibility of your inventory, automate and keep track of reordering, and make data-driven strategic decisions for the future.
An IMS that meets these requirements will undoubtedly help you save time and money while also reducing frustration levels throughout your organization.