Top 5 Trends in Inventory Sourcing to Watch

Do you have a solid inventory sourcing plan in place? Or maybe you haven’t given it much thought; and, instead, find yourself mindlessly making purchases. If that’s the case, your bottom line may be suffering from a serious lack of planning.

Creative inventory sourcing for your store’s end items is crucial to your long term success. Here are some of the latest trends to help you feel inspired:

Trend #1: Use a Model that Works

What’s working for successful Shopify and eBay sellers? This is important to look at, because then you can see how inventory sourcing strategies play a role in business success. And it gives you a model to follow.

So do the research. It’ll be time well spent.

Trend #2: Employ the “Go Wide” Strategy

According to The Selling Family, going wide is when you buy limited quantities of about 5 or fewer of any one item. “We’ll purchase a large variety of products and if something does well, we’ll replenish. If it tanks or isn’t available anymore, we move on.”

Trend #3: Limit Bulk Purchasing

Inventory sourcing is not about buying in bulk at the cheapest price. At best, this is a risky strategy that could leave you with a ton of unwanted inventory. So – unless you have deep pockets and a storage warehouse – you should be very cautious when making bulk purchases.

Trend #4: Dropshipping

Make inventory sourcing painless. Dropshipping allows you to sell items you don’t actually own or keep in stock at your location. In fact, all you do is list an item on your website and email orders to your supplier. And they handle the inventory and shipping.

Trend #5: Outsource to a Virtual Assistant

If the entire thought of inventory sourcing gives you a headache, then why not consider outsourcing the whole kit and caboodle? It would free up your time so you can focus on other areas of your business . . . or your life.

Finally, only you will know what will work best for your online store. It could be one of these trends, or a combination, or something else entirely. The real trick is in making well-thought-out choices based on strategic planning.

As always, I welcome your comments.