4 Smart Tips to Successfully Manage Online Inventory

Keeping an eye on stock levels is at the heart of any ecommerce business. More to the point, though, is how you manage online inventory in the long run. Done correctly, it can help you avoid costly mistakes that can be detrimental to your business.

1) Forecast Inventory Based on Your Previous Sales

There’s nothing worse for your ecommerce business than running out of stock on items that customers want to buy. As a result, they’ll end up going elsewhere.

A good way to not order too little )or too much) is to use as much historical data as possible. In addition, you’ll want to take into account seasonal changes and holiday events.

2) Prioritize Between Fast and Slow Moving Inventory

As a rule, 80% of consumer demand is generated by 20% of all items.

That’s why it’s so important to discriminate between best sellers and slow moving stock. By constantly reviewing and readjusting your inventory management strategies, you can find the perfect balance to manage online inventory.

So your goal should be to reduce slow moving, non priority stock while also monitoring fast moving items that are likely to run out of stock sooner rather than later.

3) Create Contingency Plans for Unexpected Scenarios

When it comes to how you manage online inventory, it’s always a good idea to have a backup plan.

Here are just a few examples of unexpected scenarios you may face:

A sudden, unexpected spike in sales of a particular product
A product gets discontinued, but you’ve already told customers you would order some in for them
A supplier runs out of a key product and they don’t know when they’ll have stock in again

Contingency planning is crucial to your store’s success. Equally important, it will help you avoid angry customers who will want to lash out with negative reviews.

4) Take Control of Your Store’s Multichannel Listings

Not everyone sells across channels. But if you do, then you know that managing inventory can become exponentially more difficult.

From converting products to different channels to removing duplicates by hand to manual order processing, it can soon become a nightmare to manage online inventory properly.

So why not let Esa Product Manager do the work for you?

This clever product can link your eBay items to Shopify, Etsy, and Bigcommerce. What’s more is that there’s no need to use special inventory tools to sync and manage products. Check out our free trial offer here.

In the end, it’s the way you manage online inventory that will determine how successful your ecommerce store will or will not be—which is why it is so important to be smart about it from the get go.

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