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Taking Control of Inventory Control: Top Tips Every Retailer Should be Following.

July 2015

Retail. Accelerated.

● Why is inventory management important?

● The impact of poor inventory management - my story

● My 7 top tips

● Summary

● Q&A

Talking points:

Why is inventory management important?

● Understanding how much stock you have.

● Making your investment in inventory work hard.

● Increasing customer trust/satisfaction to drive loyalty.

● Making replenishment decisions based on data.

The Impact of Poor InventoryManagement

1. Place purchase orders (POs) with your suppliers.

● Ensure supplier’s deliveries and invoices are accurate

● Make sure Goods Ins in are always compared to purchase orders

● Avoid duplicated purchase orders

● Provide better customer service and reduce missed sales

● Accurate cost of sales data

● Ensure integration between Goods In and sales channels.

● Increase how quickly you can stock back into cash.

● Avoid missed orders for out of stock items.

2. Process Goods In and update stock levels immediately.

● 10 in stock - 8 allocated = 2 on hand!

● In stock is key for stock takes and management accounts.

● On hand ensure you can always meet customer demand and have a true picture of availability.

● Instant Allocation enables you to sell all stock on all channels.

3. Use ‘allocation’ to reserve stock.

4. Use gamification to drive the right attitude to inventory.

● Data is only ever as good as the people entering it.

● Ensure everyone knows their role in the quality of the data

● Avoid unnecessary workarounds

5. Establish strong processes from the outset.

● Document your processes

● Share and communicate your processes

● Allow formal feedback and suggestions

● See where bottlenecks and errors are occurring

● Remove unnecessary steps

6. Get your timing right with new channels.

● Get your stock control basics right before opening new channels.

● Truly understand your profit and prove your model before expanding.

● Look at the Long Tail of products - is it worth listing all product on all marketplaces?

7. Review your performance - test & measure

● Understand your inventory turnover rate (cost of sales / average inventory) and compare this to your payment terms.

● Plan intake months in advance and always factor seasonality.

● Plan vendor reviews to highlight missed deliveries or high return rates - diversify your supply chain or negotiate better terms.

Summary

1. Place purchase orders (POs) with your suppliers.

2. Process Goods In and update stock levels immediately.

3. Use ‘allocation’ to reserve stock.

4. Use gamification to drive the right attitude to inventory.

5. Establish strong processes from the outset.

6. Get your timing right with new channels.

7. Review your performance - test & measure

Thank you, any questions?Ti Osnat: ti.osnat@brightpearl.comFollow us @BrightpearlHQ#RetailAccelerated

Retail. Accelerated.

www.brightpearl.com

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