Inventory management plays a crucial role in a business’s success, but both excess inventory and product shortages can negatively impact operations. Achieving the right balance is key.
Effective inventory management, often computerized through ERP and CRM systems, helps maintain “perpetual inventory records,” ensuring real-time stock updates and strategic pricing during peak seasons.
In factories, warehouses, and retail spaces, tracking hundreds of assets and inventory items is essential to prevent downtime and costly inefficiencies. This blog will introduce 7 tools that can help streamline inventory control, reduce costs, and improve customer service, no matter the size of your business.
Top 7 Inventory Management Tools for E-Commerce Businesses
Effective inventory management software provides a clear view of your inventory, be it for a retail business or any other. It streamlines manufacturing processes, ensuring the right stock levels are available when needed. This prevents stockouts and delays, improving cash flow by avoiding excess inventory.
Among its other objectives, inventory management also enables manufacturers to respond swiftly to market changes. By keeping inventory in check, this software optimizes overall business operations. Let’s look at a few inventory management tools to ensure your e-commerce success in 2024!
Cycle Counting
To ensure that your store’s stock matches the quantities recorded in your inventory management system, cycle counting audits a small set of products. Regular inventory counts help minimize surplus stock and allow for reconciliation if discrepancies are found between the system and actual inventory in the sales floor, stockroom, or warehouse.
For effective inventory planning and control, accuracy is crucial. Open-source inventory management tools can be made more reliable with an active and systematic cycle counting approach.
Barcode Data Collection
Most inventory systems heavily depend on accurate reporting. Manual reporting often leads to delays, errors, missed transactions, and additional workload for employees. Automating data collection with barcode scanners significantly improves transaction accuracy and speed while minimizing manual reporting errors.
Implementing barcode scanning ensures precise and reliable inventory data, lifting the burden from employees and optimizing inventory management.
ABC Analysis
ABC analysis, also known as Pareto analysis, ranks inventory items based on their annual total value (movement times unit cost). This technique helps prioritize which products are most important. Typically, 20% of the items account for 80% of the total value, while the next 30% contribute 15%, and the remaining 50% represent just 5%.
Integrated Planning and Execution
Integrating a cloud-based inventory control system into supply chain operations helps unify planning and execution. With inventory and accounting software in place, data accuracy improves, productivity increases, waste is reduced, and carrying costs decrease.
This solution automates tedious tasks, reducing labour costs. Integration with mobile devices further enhances productivity, allowing management to update inventory from anywhere in the supply chain.
Lot Traceability and Tracking
Lot tracking, traceability, and serial number monitoring— Truck in Truck Out (TITO) traceability, while not mandatory for every business, is increasingly common due to the rise in product recalls. Effective inventory tracking is essential for both basic business management and financial control.
With integrated inventory management systems, businesses gain core tools and additional features that enhance the usability of ERP systems, better meeting the needs of larger organizations.
Barcodes
A barcode inventory system lets you monitor the movement of goods over time. When equipment is checked out, you can track it using barcode scanners, and when it’s returned, the system records its entry. This accurate inventory control helps manage supply costs, reorder levels, and maintenance schedules and minimize losses.
Inventory control software also improves accountability. Whether it’s tools, equipment, files, product samples, or rental items, the software efficiently tracks and manages any assets that rotate between different users or locations.
An effective inventory management platform provides real-time visibility of where your tools are located and who is responsible for them. The system tracks every transaction, from checking out a tool to assigning it, moving it between locations, and returning it to storage, ensuring accurate lifecycle management.
The barcode system also facilitates auditing, allowing you to correct discrepancies in inventory counts, manage storage spaces, and track damaged or lost items. The ability to specify the type of out-of-stock status provides greater visibility and precision for your team.
Tracking
Inventory management tools with tracking features ensure you always know where your tools are and who has them. Most inventory systems offer customizable barcode labels, either pre-printed or generated on demand.
Additionally, a tool tracking program reduces costly downtime by automatically generating reports when tools require maintenance or calibration.
Best Practices for Inventory Management
1. Easy Tracking
An inventory management tool helps you keep track of materials, packed items, and finished products being shipped. It also finds any extra raw materials lying around, preventing overcrowding that could lead to loss or damage.
2. Faster Deliveries
Delivering on time is important to keep customers happy. Delays in production or shortages of materials can slow down orders. With proper inventory management, you can maintain the right stock levels without holding too much or too little, avoiding delays and extra costs.
3.Track Performance
You can set goals and check how well you’re doing by analyzing the data. You can track changes in inventory, storage costs, slow-moving stock, supplier performance, and how long it takes to complete orders.
4. Avoid Running Out of Stock
Running out of stock when customers need something is a problem you want to avoid. An inventory tracking system helps you keep a minimum stock level so you don’t run out unexpectedly.
5. Stay Prepared
The software gives you a clear picture of your inventory, helping you plan ahead and avoid extra costs. With good inventory tools, small businesses can manage their stock better and avoid potential problems.
FAQ: 7 Best Inventory Tools for Ecommerce Success in 2024
Are online inventory tools better than offline ones?
Yes, online inventory tools offer real-time updates, easier collaboration, and remote access, making them more flexible and efficient compared to offline tools, which have limited accessibility.
What is RFID?
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) is a technology that uses electromagnetic fields to identify and track tags attached to objects, allowing for fast, contactless inventory tracking and management.
What is TITO?
TITO (Truck In Truck Out) is a vehicle management solution that uses RFID, BLE, and IoT technology to track and control truck movements, improving operational efficiency and reducing costs.
What is SETU?
SETU is a traceability engine that connects suppliers, manufacturers, and consumers, providing real-time product tracking across the supply chain using digital twins and enhancing visibility.
Conclusion
There are many ways to improve inventory management in 2024, and adopting the right inventory tools is essential for e-commerce success, as they optimize stock management, improve efficiency, and enhance customer satisfaction.
With tools that track, automate, and streamline processes, businesses can reduce costs and boost performance. For advanced, integrated solutions, QodeNext offers cutting-edge traceability engines like SETU to elevate your inventory management.
