Product Research Tips to Open the eCommerce Opportunities!

Product Research Tips to Uncover the Ultimate eCommerce Opportunities!

The mega opportunistic eCommerce industry is quite attractive for millions of sellers. But the biggest challenge is deciding what to sell to make the most of this alluring business. One excellent product idea can make you the king of this online business. However, the manifestation of that one product idea doesn’t come to your mind quickly, and you can not wait to let it strike your mind. You have to make it happen before establishing yourself as an eCommerce seller.

Once you decide that you are going to enter this industry, you need to analyze the whole market, and one thing that matters the most is product research. However, today you can sell anything on online marketplaces. But the fact is that during the initial period of your business, you need to offer something beneficial and authentic to your potential customers.

Always remember that you are not the only one in this realm; so many other sellers are already selling the same product that you may plan to sell. This is when you require to go through robust product research. Here in this blog, we will uncover some of the terrific product research tips you can use to sell the most demanding products on eCommerce platforms.

What is Product Research?

Before knowing the tips of product research, it is essential to know what actually product research is. Well, it is a practice by which you can discover a new product idea that can prove valuable for your eCommerce business. This method can help identify your product idea that meets the market demands and customers’ requirements.

Implementing product research can provide better results on ROI(return on investment) on your product. Product research involves gathering all the essential information about your targeted customers’ buying habits, requirements, demands, and what they like to shop more. Respectively, the product research method can help you to analyze the product concepts, competitors, and pricing.

Incredible Tips for eCommerce Product Research

Analyze In-Demand Products

In the starting phase of your online business, if you do not yet have any product idea in your mind, you can get inspiration from current in-demand products that fall into the bestseller category on prominent marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart. You can visit some of the famous social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to check out their trending hashtags, and you might get enormous product ideas from there.

You can visit some brick-and-mortar stores to analyze customers’ most demanding products. Open your mind and analyze wisely which products are currently popular among the customers. Try not to convince yourself that your product idea is better than others. Do not underestimate the ongoing trends and demands, or you may put yourself at a loss. Once you get a product idea, you may require inventory management software to adjust your inventories on multiple eCommerce platforms automatically. In this regard, you can subscribe to eVanik OWS.

Read Out the Feedback and Reviews

While researching your products, you must read customers’ reviews and feedback on any prominent eCommerce platforms. Reviews can become the best way to evaluate the requirements and tastes of customers. You may develop a better understanding of what your customers like and what they do not like while shopping from an eCommerce platform.

You can visit Amazon, one of the giant eCommerce marketplace, and read out the feedback and reviews on their best-selling products. Customers often use this section to explain what they like and dislike about a specific product and what they recommend to make changes to buy that product again in the future. This practice can give you a broad idea of how customers think throughout their buying process. There are possibilities that you may land on an excellent product idea while analyzing feedback and reviews of customers. It can even provide you with an idea of what problems customers are facing, and you can take advantage of it by resolving them for your potential customers.

Check-Out B2B Marketplaces

Believe it or not, B2B marketplaces are a bonanza for attaining a new product idea for your eCommerce business. Various B2B marketplaces can expose an enormous number of product ideas that you can apply to your online business. Moreover, B2B marketplaces allow you to add any product to their cart, and you can source your supply directly from the eCommerce marketplaces if you like any specific product to sell.

Indiamart, Udaan, and Trade India are some of the few B2B marketplaces that can directly connect you with manufacturers, suppliers, and wholesalers from all over the country. These platforms have thousands of products you can explore and select to start your eCommerce journey. Exploring B2B marketplaces can be an excellent way to know what B2C platforms are selling. It is because most sellers only source their products from a B2B platform. Hence It can be one of the best tips for product research.

Become a Watchdog of Your Competitors

To make your eCommerce business successful and choose a niche product to sell, it is best to watch out for your competitors or other sellers to know what they are selling and what strategies they are applying to their business. But the fact is you can not analyze the journey of any typical sellers who are just doing good. You may require to go out of your way and find out the most prominent sellers or brands, for that matter, who have already come a long way and have a reputation in the market.

Take the help of google and other search engines of eCommerce platforms to analyze the top trending products and their sellers. Get inspiration from them but try to make a robust product plan that can help you in beating them and attract more customers. Also, it is not necessary that what works for them will work for you; if they are selling a most demanding product, you must try to sell such products that may have more potential to fulfill customers’ current requirements.

eCommerce Product-Based Criteria to Watchout Before Start Selling

  • Must analyze the product size and weight before selecting a product to sell on various marketplaces.
  • Check out the durability of your product.
  • See whether your product is seasonal or you can sell it throughout the year.
  • Check whether your product is helpful for the customers in terms of resolving any specific problem.
  • Must get assurance from the marketplaces if there are any restrictions on selling a selected product.

    These are a few product-based criteria that you must follow before selecting a product to sell on eCommerce marketplaces. You need to understand the fact that even an excellent product idea is worthless if there is no demand for that in the market. Obviously, you do not want to spend your money on products that don’t have the potential to attract customers and make your business valuable.

Conclusion

Thus, product research provides you with the immense opportunity to identify an appropriate product to sell and avoid making expensive mistakes. This technique can ensure that whatever product you select has a demand in the market and customers are looking forward to buying them. Once you get done with your product research, you need to fulfill the demands of your customers in a much more effective and quick manner. In this regard, you may require to get along with an order management software for eCommerce that can automate your backend operations such as payments, accounts, inventories, shipping, and returns. eVanik OWS can help with it most effectively.

What is Profit Margin & Its Importance For Online Business!

A Complete Guide to Profit Margin & Its Importance For Online Business!

Running an eCommerce business is challenging because of the immense competition in this field. It is hard to survive if you are not following the guidelines and are unaware of this business’s various dimensions. The latest research suggests that only 25% of eCommerce businesses survive, so managing every aspect of online business is crucial. To know the growth graph of your online business, it is essential to calculate your profit margin ratio.

To know the actual position of your business, it is imperative to know how much profit you are making from it. Running a business blindly can become the most prominent reason for business failure.

If you are new to this eCommerce business, you may find it much more challenging to manage your finances and calculate your profit margin. However, accounting software for eCommerce can help you manage your accounts efficiently, and once you can manage your finances properly, it will become much easier for you to know your profit margin. In this blog, we will mention what profit margin is and why it is vital for your eCommerce business.

What is Profit Margin?

A profit margin is a figure that is retained after deducting various expenses. In simple terms, we can say that, after selling your products successfully, what revenue you generate by selling one individual product category is known as the profit margin. A higher profit margin ratio indicates your eCommerce business’s good financial health. There are three significant types of profit margins that we are going to mention in the following points.

Gross Profit Margin

Gross profit margin usually refers to profit on a specific product or service rather than the entire online business. Analyzing the gross profit margin can help you determine the pricing strategy because a low gross profit margin means you need to bring changes to a specific product to make it worthwhile.

To calculate your gross margin profit, you need to subtract the price of products sold from net sales, divide the outcome figure by the net sales and get the ratio; you will get the gross margin profit in the form of a percentage. The formula is; [Total revenue-COGS]/Total revenue(x100). It can help you to bring changes in the pricing of your products.

Operating Profit Margin

The operating profit margin indicates how much the profit ratio you attain after spending money on some of the indirect expenses to run your business. It is generally calculated by dividing the operating profit by the total amount of revenue. Comparing the operating profit margin with the gross profit margin considers a range of other operating expenses such as warehouse rent, shipping charges, eCommerce platform fees, etc.

Most sellers don’t calculate the operating profit margin with the other expenses. Still, the collective calculation of such expenses can provide you with a clear insight into your business’s profit, and you might get to know how these expenses affect the profit of your online business.

Net Profit Margin

Net profit margin basically showcases the exact profit of the business after subtracting all the other expenses, including the cost of products sold, operating costs, and other expenses and taxes. Net profit margin gives you an idea about the overall success of your eCommerce business. If you acquire a higher margin rate, it indicates that your business is doing well.

If it’s not, it can be a matter of concern for you, and you must work on it religiously. On the other hand, you can also use the net profit margin to compare your business performance with your competitors as well. The net profit margin is the exact revenue of your business, and you must have clarity on it. In calculating your net profit margin, it is essential to manage your finances first; for that, you can use accounting software for eCommerce.

How to Increase Your Profit Margin?

Cut Down Your Operating Expenses

To increase your profit margin, it is best to minimize the costs of your operational expenses. However, knowing what you need to cut down on your operating expenses is quite challenging. It can be tricky because there are various essential expenses you can not reduce, such as several fees, charges, and taxes.

To successfully reduce operating expenses, you need to analyze your business operating expenses closely; only then can you decide what you can cut down and what not. Instead of taking first-hand services, you can optimize and outsource them successfully.

Hike up Your Product Price

Generally, eCommerce sellers have this fear that if they raise their product prices, they might lose their essential customers, or their customers may abandon them. However, if you provide a pleasant shopping experience to your customers and they are already happy with your product, you can increase your product prices.

We are not saying that it will be easy for you; you need to use some psychological marketing tactics. For example, if you are selling a single product for Rs.150, it will be great to sell a combo product at Rs. 200. It can be a great idea to increase your product by selling one item at an average price and one at an increment price. Such a tactic can help you attract more customers as they might think they are getting a good deal. This practice can help in increasing your profit margin immensely.

Increase The Customers’ Trust

Whether you believe it or not, you need to understand the fact that the trust of the customer is everything you require to run your eCommerce business and increase your profit margin rate.

As an eCommerce seller, gaining the customer’s trust is essential. Now the question is, how will you do that? Well, in this regard, an enormous number of reviews on your product page can help you with it. Positive feedback or reviews have the impeccable power that develops trust in your potential customers and makes them invest in your products.

Increase Your Average Order Value

It is vital to increase your profit margin to increase your average order value(AOV). If you are unaware of the average order value, you need to know that AOV is the average amount a customer contributes per transaction in your online store. To calculate your average order value, you need to use a simple formula; Divide the total revenue by a total number of orders, and the outcome you will get is your average order value.

As an online seller, you can receive higher profit margins by increasing your AOV, and to increase your AOV, and you may require forcing your customers to spend less money. You can offer them free shipping on any exact order amount. You can implement upsell and cross-sale and offer them a complementary product along with any specific product they want to buy.

Conclusion

Hence, these are some of the ideal ways that help you to increase your profit margin. In the points mentioned above, you might have understood why it is essential to know about the ratio of your profit margin graph. Now, undoubtedly, we can say that enhancing profit margins is a profitable strategy for your eCommerce business.

A higher profit margin can make your business stand out from the competition and make it sustainable for longer. It doesn’t matter how new or old your eCommerce business is, you must know about your profit margin and manage your finances accurately. In this regard, you can use eVanik OWS’s help for compelling management of your accounts. 

 

Last Mile Delivery & Its Importance For eCommerce Business!

Last Mile Delivery & Its Importance For eCommerce Business!

In this fast-paced digital world, everyone wants to get their work done in a speedy manner. The emergence of the eCommerce industry has increased the expectation of fast order delivery to customers. Today they can think about same-day delivery if they want to get any product on an urgent basis or want to gift any specific item to their loved ones. Some prominent eCommerce channels, such as Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, etc., offer their customers same-day delivery services.

A decade ago, consumers didn’t have this liberty, but today due to the paradigm shift in the eCommerce industry, customers can expect their order at their doorstep right after a few hours of order placement. Because of the speedy shipping and last-mile delivery feature, the customer experience has become far better than ever before. It would be best if you also took advantage of this quintessential feature as an eCommerce seller.

Last mile delivery is specifically designed to deal with the hurdles of the last delivery phase when a product reaches the customers’ doorstep from the warehouses. This approach has pushed eCommerce sellers to cope with changing customer demand for speedy delivery. This blog will teach you about the aspects of last-mile delivery and why you need to implement it in your business.

What is Last Mile Delivery?

Whenever a customer places an order via any eCommerce marketplace, the product reaches their doorstep from the manufacturers in three different phases of delivery.

  • First Mile Delivery: First-mile delivery is about receiving a product from a manufacturer through a courier partner and storing it in a warehouse or at any distribution center.

  • Second Mile Delivery: Second-mile delivery is also known as the middle mile delivery of products from a distribution center or a warehouse to the fulfillment center where customers can get their products delivered.

  • Last Mile Delivery: The last mile delivery refers to getting the products from the final destination from a courier partner, which can be the sellers’ home, fulfillment center, or any nearest center, and then delivering them to the customers’ doorstep. The last mile delivery system assures the product reaches the customers’ place within the promised time.

    Now, if you are still wondering why last mile delivery is so essential for your eCommerce business, here we mention numerous points that can help you understand it better.

Requirement for Last-Mile Delivery For eCommerce Business

Fulfilling the Urgent Requirement of Customers

In the fiercely competitive world of eCommerce, speed is a significant concern today. Customers want their products delivered within a few hours of order placement. To fulfill the customers’ urgent requirements, as an online seller, you need to speed up the delivery part. We can say that delivery speed is a huge concern for online sellers. According to a survey, more than 42% of consumers are willing to pay extra money for same-day delivery. Last-mile delivery can help you attain an intensified delivery speed.

However, getting along with a reliable logistic service provider will be best to implement a last-mile delivery factor. Before that, you may require an online order management software that can automate the backend operations and thus enforce speedy delivery. In this regard, you can get along with eVanik OWS; it can handle all your backend operations such as payment, inventory, shipping, and returns.

Building a Loyal Customer Base

The enormous success of your online business depends on how many loyal customers you have and whether you can fulfill their demands on time or not. However, building a robust and loyal customer base in the eCommerce industry is complex. For this, you need to understand the requirement and shopping behavior of your customers. The requirements and demands may vary from customer to customer, but one thing can be constant: on-time delivery.

If you cannot deliver their order on promised time, you may quickly lose them. If you want to win the hearts of your customers, you may have to implement last mile delivery solution for your online business. If you can fulfill their demands on time, they may also repurchase a product from you in the future and can become your loyal customer too.

Customers Prefer to Track Orders

Unlike a physical store, customers can not simply visit your store and buy products; they need to place orders and make payments without analyzing them. So what they expect is at least having a track of their orders. Order tracking relaxes them and assures them that their order is on the way and will be delivered to them promptly.

Providing tracking features to your customers can also help increase your revenue because they get back to you repeatedly. Based on research, more than 80% of customers prefer to shop from those who provide them with a last-mile delivery tracking feature. So you need to indulge with a courier or logistic partner that can provide your customers with a last-mile delivery tracking solution.

Challenges of Last-Mile Delivery

Provide Faster Delivery

For faster and more efficient delivery, the last-mile delivery solution requires an intelligent strategy to follow. As a seller, you must have wondered if the order may get delayed for any specific reason. Well, your question is correct, it can happen, but the best you can do is to attain a fulfillment center near your targeted customer locations.

For instance, if your targeted customers reside in Delhi, you should store your products in any fulfillment center in the city. It can help you with the fastest last-mile delivery option. Apart from that, you can even distribute the orders into small individual deliveries.

Visibility can Become an Issue

As an eCommerce seller, you might feel that providing complete visibility throughout the delivery process can become problematic. However, some prominent eCommerce platforms can help you with this as they provide last-mile delivery tracking features to their customers. But the problem is customers want to track the entire delivery process, and it can not be done without the help of enormous tracking software.

Several software solutions available in the market provide comprehensive tracking solutions to your customers. It can provide them with the estimated time and location of their order. Several food apps such as Zomato and Swiggy are using this tracking solution.

Cost Management can Become a Major Concern

If you plan to divide the orders into small and individual parts, it can become quite costly for you as you will require delivery partners for each order. On the other hand, same-day delivery or order delivery within one or two hours of order placement can also put you in a stressful situation and may affect your budget also.

However, suppose you are an Amazon seller. In that case, you should take advantage of Amazon’s FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) service. They can handle the entire shipment and delivery for you and provide speedy last-mile delivery to your customers. However, you need to pay a small FBA charge to them, but it can be cost-effective for you.

So this is all about the last-mile delivery; it is not rocket science; it is simply a delivery process that can effectively help you deliver the orders quickly to your customers. Various other aspects, such as robust inventory management software, can help speed up this process. Such software can clarify every available or unavailable product in your stock and save you from overstocking products. Hence if you have clarity over inventories, you can effectively speed up the order fulfillment process and implement a last-mile delivery service.

Conclusion

You must understand that a last-mile delivery service requires advanced and automated software to execute the process accurately and efficiently. However, this innovation comes with the cost of integration. Various software, whether an order management system, inventory management software or even a las-mile delivery software, can speed up the last-mile delivery process and deliver the product to the customers on a promised delivery date or time. For backend operations automation, you can subscribe to the eVanik OWS. Automating the various eCommerce aspects can eventually intensify the order fulfillment process.

Considerable eCommerce Metrics Sellers Need to Track This Year!

Considerable eCommerce Metrics Sellers Need to Track This Year!

There is a vast difference between running an eCommerce business and running a successful one. Today millions of sellers are selling their products on eCommerce marketplaces. But not all of them are acquiring success; the reason is that some are not analyzing their business’s overall performance or may not follow the latest metrics of the eCommerce industry.

Believe it or not but for the tremendous success of your online business, you must follow all the latest metrics of this industry. The eCommerce metrics may change from time to time per the market trend and customer demand. The metrics mentioned in this blog are essential in terms of serving your customers dynamically. If you are unaware of these, this blog is just for you. Here in this particular blog, we are going to mention some of the vital eCommerce metrics that can help you to know whether you need to implement them in your online business or not. The following metrics will help you understand how well your business performs. So what are we waiting for? Let’s get down and find out these considerable metrics of eCommerce.

Five Elementary eCommerce Metrics That You Need to Follow

eCommerce Transaction Rate

How many transactions have been done from your seller page can not precisely tell how well your business is doing. However, over time, it does demonstrate how popular your product is on various eCommerce platforms. That is why it is necessary to track every online business transaction. Now the real challenge is it is impossible to track every transaction manually, so what is the solution? Well, you need not worry about it because there is various accounting software of eCommerce available that can help you to tackle this problem tremendously. Some software, such as eVanik OWS, has the efficient feature of managing all your transactions by integrating with your accounting software such as Tally, Zoho books, Quick books, etc.

With the help of such software it can become easier for you to track each transaction and know what is actually happening with your business. This is one of the most considerable metrics of this industry that you must follow if you want to up-scale or grow your business.

Calculate Your Cost of Goods Sold (COGS)

The cost of goods sold is basically associated with your sales. The enormous eCommerce industry incorporates various factors such as the price you paid to the manufacturer or supplier for your products or the price related to formulating your products yourself. Accurately calculating the cost of goods sold (COGS) can be challenging for any eCommerce seller. These eCommerce metrics can also help analyze the inventory turnover margins and ratios as well. To calculate the COGS, you can start with the basic level, and the formula is; Initial inventory+Total acquisition-closure inventory.

To acquire the accurate cost of goods sold value, you need to keep track of your inventory or manage your inventory perfectly. Lack of inventory management can make you lose the chance to get along with this eCommerce metric. To manage your inventory, you can acquire inventory management software. Such software can automatically provide you with all the inventory reports on a real-time basis. Thus it can help in calculating the COGS.

Recognize Your Return Rate

Returns are a significant pain for any eCommerce seller; you must have experienced this issue maybe on a daily basis or occasionally. It can be more or less, but it is present there. The eCommerce industry has accepted that they have to live with this issue, but they can try their best to reduce the return rate. According to the research of the National retail federation and apprises retail, it has been found that returns have increased from 10.5% to 16.8% this year.

These statistics are a matter of concern. Handling the courier and customer return can be a clumsy task to perform, but with the help of return reconciliation software, it can be done perfectly and precisely. Such software can help you enormously in terms of managing your returns and ultimately increase your profitability. If you are not focusing on your return rates, you may not only lose your money but can also diminish your market image. Along with evaluating your return rate, you must focus on minimizing it by understanding the customers’ concerns regarding your product.

Measure Your Customer Retention Rate

In the eCommerce world, it can be easy to attract new customers because there are so many effective ways that you can execute to make them buy your product at once. But it is way too difficult to retain a current customer because they already know you, and if your product is not as per their requirement or if they have some other issue, they might never return to you. However, measuring the customer retention rate is imperative to know how well you can hold your existing customers.

To calculate your CRR (Customer retention rate), you can divide the total number of return customers by the total number of existing customers and multiply that by a hundred. If your CRR value is below 30%, it means you need to work on increasing it by improving your product quality, delivery time, price, etc. To increase the CRR rate, you can offer attractive discounts and offers to your customers.

Calculate Your Net Profit Margin

You must agree that you are not in the eCommerce business to sell your products but also to generate enormous revenue. You need to calculate your net profit margin if your business is doing as per your expectations. This measure can give you an overall idea of what you need to add or minimize to increase your profit margin. Calculating your net profit margin is a comparatively simple task to perform.

It will help if you use a calculator and manually minus the cost of goods sold from the gross revenue and then divide the figure by the actual sales. The formula for executing this process is; net profit margin= [(Gross revenue- COGS-other expenses and taxes) / net sales]. In such a way, you can know your net profit margin and run your business accordingly.

Conclusion

Thus, several eCommerce metrics can empower online sellers to analyze and measure the overall performance of their online business and let them make essential decisions. As an eCommerce seller, you can use such metrics to obtain a much more reasonable and precise way to evaluate the performance of each product you are selling on diverse eCommerce marketplaces. To attain your business goals efficiently, you must follow these eCommerce metrics.

Suppose you find that your business is not performing well on such metrics. In that case, you may require to subscribe to some robust software such as eVanik OWS to improve the parameter of several metrics such as COGS, return rate, transaction rate, etc. It can effectively minimize the issue related to inventory management, return reconciliation, accounting, shipping, and payment also. This centralized software can easily integrate your ERP system and manage your multi-channel business performance in a single dashboard.

Avoid These Seven eCommerce Mistakes & Let Your Business Thrive!

Avoid These Seven eCommerce Mistakes & Let Your Business Thrive!

We all are human, and humans tend to make mistakes. But when you are planning to get aboard in the eCommerce industry, you can’t afford to make continuous mistakes. A study says that approximately 75% of new online businesses fail because they fail to avoid these mistakes. Since the eCommerce industry is a cost-effective business, you may underestimate the risks and mistakes in the beginning. However, starting an eCommerce business, you have to focus more on survival than on the other aspects of this business.

Some of you may make mistakes unknowingly in the initial stage of your business, and it can affect the growth of your online business later. As a seller, you have to make sure that you are capable of providing top-notch services to your customers. Customers have thousands of options available, and somehow, if you miss a chance to fulfill their orders efficiently, they may simply switch to your competitors. To tackle this situation soundly, you must know the eCommerce mistakes that you need to avoid in terms of managing your business effectively and efficiently. In this blog, we have mentioned seven eCommerce mistakes you must avoid.

Seven eCommerce Mistakes That You Must Avoid

No Market Research Before Starting

If you are about to start any business, it is essential to do some research before your start. Specifically, it is necessary to research the latest market trends in the eCommerce industry. It is one of the sellers’ most common mistakes before starting their eCommerce business. Suppose customers are more likely to buy products from the latest trends and you’re launching a new but outdated product on marketplaces; who will buy them? Undoubtedly, no one, and if some may, but then also it can’t provide you the expected ROI. Market research does not only refer to research only about the latest trends, but you also need to rotate your eyes on the other aspects as well, such as what your competitors are selling and what customers prefer more to buy from an eCommerce platform.

Selecting a Wrong eCommerce Platform

You must choose the right platform to start your online business as an eCommerce seller. It is essential because it is the base of the eCommerce business. Suppose you fail to choose the right platform. In that case, you may lose the heavy opportunity to make your business successful in generating revenue and making an enormous customer base. As a startup, you must choose platforms with a solid customer base and credibility in the market, such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, etc.

These prominent platforms have the potential to accelerate the growth of your online business and make it stand out from the competition. As a new seller, you must know the nature of whichever platform you choose to sell your products. Look closely at what categories they are offering and what charges they will deduct from your every order.

No or Less Promotion of Product

If you are new to the marketplaces and customers are not aware of your products, then it is crucial to run promotions related to your products. It is evident if customers won’t get to know about your product, how they will buy it. So in this scenario, you need to make several promotional strategies to make your customers aware of your product. It can be one of the sellers’ huge mistakes in not promoting their products at all. In lack of promotional activities, your business may fail, and you won’t be able to re-establish your online presence.

Why take such a risk when you still have the chance to make it a successful affair for you. Several platforms offer promotional features to their sellers, and you just need to invest a little amount and go with the flow. Promotions can effectively attract customers and let it survive at multiple eCommerce sites. Believe it or not but promotions are the crucial step in establishing an online business or launching a new product.

Lack of Inventory Management

As an eCommerce, you may start selling a small number of products, but as soon as your business starts expanding, you have to manage your inventories first. Inventory management is imperative for any eCommerce business, especially if you want to become a multichannel seller and sell your products on various platforms. Due to the poor inventory management, you can not only miss out on a solid customer base but may also lose on a heavy revenue generation factor.

So it is better to get along with any powerful inventory management software such as eVanik. Such software can provide you with real-time inventory reports. Getting along with software can also save you from overstocking. Apart from that, it effectively helps with reconciling the other inventory-related issues.

Complicated Checkout Process

In the eCommerce world, acquiring the buy box section is essential. To reach this section, you need to ensure that your customers can quickly checkout and buy your products. If the checkout process is complicated and not preferable for the customers, they might not buy your products or simply abandon the cart. To escape this situation, you need to check if the eCommerce platform is offering prominent payment modes or not. There should be the option of credit, debit, Upi, and cash on delivery feature on the platform. Apart from that, if there is any buy now pay later option, you must acquire that also because it can attract customers and make them buy your product even if they don’t need it.

Ignoring Customers’ Feedback

Various sellers on major eCommerce platforms don’t know the necessity of replying to customer feedback or making product changes according to customers’ preferences. This is the reason why they aren’t able to make enough sales. Thus it is one of the biggest eCommerce mistakes that most sellers make today. If you are in the process of selling your products on multichannel or have already started your journey, you should give importance to the feedback of customers.

Understand that you are in this business for customers, and your business may survive because of the customers. So there is no denying the fact that you must focus on what your customers are saying. Must reply to their reviews, in this way you make them feel special and they may become your loyal customers.

Clumsy Product Listing Quality

Apart from all other mistakes of the eCommerce business, meager product listing quality is the specific one, and it can ruin your entire hard work if not done correctly. Most sellers do not focus much while listing their products on any eCommerce channel. They don’t see whether the description is suitable, the title is accurate, and whether the product quality is good or not.

Be aware if you are also doing the same because it can negatively affect your entire business. Think from a customer perspective, will you buy such products that have a poor appearance? It might not make sure that you are adding good quality images, embellished descriptions, and attractive product titles along with the relevant title.

Conclusion

Making eCommerce mistakes is inescapable, and you may struggle to get back on track and make your robust online presence as a prominent seller. However, if you are in the learning process, you must consider the above points and try to resolve them as soon as possible. You can not afford to indulge in such mistakes if you envision expanding your online business and making it successful at any cost.

While associating with the eCommerce business, you need to put your customers first and provide them with a pleasant buying experience. Try to know the customer’s shopping behavior and fix all the hurdles coming in the way of order fulfillment. In this regard, you can subscribe to any automatic order management software such as eVanik OWS to eliminate several issues and speed up this process.

Top Five Inventory Management Techniques and Their Pros & Cons!

Top Five Inventory Management Techniques and Their Pros & Cons!

As an online seller, you should know that inventory is an essential factor of an eCommerce business. Mismanagement of inventory can destroy your business in so many ways. If you do not realize the importance of inventory management during the initial period of your business, you may lose your value among the customers on the first attempt only. This is the reason why one should consider the importance of this crucial aspect of online business management.

Without having clarity over inventory management, you can not successfully process the order fulfillment process. The fundamental purpose of eCommerce inventory management is to meet the customer’s demand without gathering an overstock and to escape the situation of stock out. To execute this significant process accurately, you must know about several inventory management techniques. Apart from various techniques, you can also get along with an eCommerce inventory management software that provides authentic and precise information about your inventories. In this particular blog, we have mentioned some of the effective inventory management techniques and their pros and cons as well. It can help you manage your inventory and select the best technique for your business.

Five Effective Inventory Management Techniques with Their Pros & Cons

1. ABC Inventory Management

It is one of the most effective inventory management techniques; through this procedure, you can keep your products in order of importance. ‘A’ refers to the most valuable, ‘B’ stands for moderate valuable products, and ‘C’ stands for least valuable products. Because every product can not stand for equal value, and that is why your priority should be paid to the most popular products in your inventory. This technique’s major factor is selling the most valuable products in the first go. Here are some of the pros and cons of this technique that can help you determine whether it is an effective inventory management technique for you or not. You can segregate your products into the ABC category by multiplying the annual number of products sold by cost per item and finding the annual usage value per product.

Pros:

  • This technique can help forecast demand by closely analyzing a top popular product over time.
  • It offers effective time management and resource allocation.
  • It can help in determining an excellent customer service approach.
  • ABC inventory management technique enables inventory accuracy.
  • It can help in implementing strategic pricing for your products.

    Cons:

  • The disadvantage of this inventory management technique is that you may not be able to follow the current trends because your priority will be selling the most valuable items first.
  • This technique may require human resources and more time to segregate the products as per their value.
  • This procedure may require more accurate data collection and measurement.

2. Just In Time (JIT) Inventory Management

Just-in-time inventory management techniques are also considered an effective method. In this process, sellers only receive products from a third-party supplier when they need them. You can say that the primary objective of this technique is to increase inventory turnover and reduce inventory holding costs. This method requires strategic planning for order fulfillment till it gets delivered to customers. Most eCommerce sellers use this method to eliminate inventory wastage. Although this effective technique also beholds significant pros and cons, which we have mentioned in the following points.

Pros:

  • This method is highly effective in eliminating inventory wastage.
  • It also decreases the warehouse inventory holding charges.
  • This technique requires less investment because one only acquires the limited and essential products to sell.
  • JIT inventory management method allows having complete control over the manufacturing process that works on a demand-pull basis.

    Cons:

  • One of the primary disadvantages of this method is that you may experience difficulties fulfilling the order on time.
  • This technique beholds the immense risk of the stockout situation.
  • In any disruption, the just-in-time method can drastically affect your business because there will be no excess inventories to fall back on, and your sales may halt.

3. Backordering Inventory Management Technique

Backordering is another inventory management technique that allows your customers to place an order even if it is out of stock or you do not have sufficient stock of that product. eCommerce sellers implement back ordering when they experience a sudden increase in sales or sell significant products faster than you can stock them. It can be considered as the most common and efficient practice that can be used by online sellers whenever they face a surge in demand. In other words, you can say that backorders are a manifestation that indicates the demand for a product exceeds its current supply rate. In this scenario, you directly send the product request to your vendors, and they fulfill your request, and you then you can ship them to your customers. However, this process also has some pros and cons. Let’s’ check them out.

Pros:

  • This Inventory technique can help you with maintaining the revenue flow in the high-demand low stock situation.
  • It can help you fulfill the customer’s demand even if there are not enough products in your stock.
  • It provides more flexibility to small eCommerce sellers.
  • This inventory management technique minimizes the risk of overstocking.

    Cons:

  • Involvement with this method can highly affect the customer satisfaction rate because of the delay in the fulfillment process.
  • This technique involves a massive chance of order cancellation and refund requests.
  • You may lose your existing customers along with the potential ones.

4. Bulk Shipment Inventory Management

In the entire eCommerce inventory management process bulk shipment method is highly recommended to sellers to meet the higher customer demand in less time. It is cost-effective as buying products in bulk always becomes cheaper in terms of shipment as well. We can say that the bulk shipment inventory management technique is ideal for predominant products with higher customer demand and long shelf life. Let’s find out some of the pros and cons of this inventory management technique.

Pros:

  • The bulk shipment inventory management technique involves a high potential to generate maximum revenue.
  • Though this method allows bulk shipment, hence eventually lowers the shipping costs.
  • It works effectively for prominent products with particular demand and long shelf life.

    Cons:

  • This inventory management technique requires a hefty investment.
  • It increases the essential holding costs for product storage.
  • In this method, it can be challenging to adjust the inventory during the time of demand fluctuations quickly. However, to escape such a situation, you can take the help of some inventory management software such as eVanik OWS.

5. Consignment Inventory Management

In this inventory management technique, the wholesaler has legal ownership of the products, and the sellers are not required to pay for them until they are sold. In this method, sellers can even decide to return any unsold inventory without worrying about financial loss. The most crucial aspect of this method is to manage the consignment inventory so that it moves quickly and efficiently from a wholesaler to the sellers and then to the customer’s doorstep. Lets’ see what the pros and cons of this technique are.

Pros:

  • This inventory management technique allows you to offer your customers a more comprehensive product range.
  • It may decrease the wane time of restocking the products.
  • A seller can also return the products in case of no sale without paying a penny to the wholesaler.

    Cons:

  • Consignment inventory is difficult to manage on a spreadsheet due to the constant movement. However, an online inventory management software such as eVanik OWS can help you with it.
  • A wholesaler may own the stock, but the seller will be responsible for storing them and paying the warehouse.
  • You still have to pay for the warehouse space if there is no sale.

Conclusion

Hence, these are some of the profound inventory management techniques you can use while associating with an eCommerce business. Indeed there are pros and cons to every method, but still, you can choose one as per the nature of your business or whatever method suits you the best. The fundament is inventory should be managed accurately never to disappoint your customers and maintain the supply chain flow. As an eCommerce seller, you can take the help of any prominent inventory management software like eVanik OWS to avoid the over-stocking or less stocking situation. It provides you with an accurate inventory report to clarify your inventory.

How to Attain Your First eCommerce Sale Without Marketing!

How to Attain Your First eCommerce Sale Without Marketing!

Undoubtedly, the eCommerce industry is snowballing, and this enormous industry has been at its boom ever since the pandemic happened. Customers get used to online shopping and order products on a regular basis. It has been predicted that the eCommerce industry will increase its sales by more than 4.9 trillion dollars by 2024. Market experts have estimated that more than 24 million new eCommerce websites will be there by the end of 2024. This is the reason why sellers are moving their stores to online marketplaces.

However, this scenario will also increase the competition between the sellers. But with the right business strategy and tactics, you will be able to survive in this industry and may generate your first eCommerce sales without marketing. A good business plan and enormous ideas can do wonders for your eCommerce business. As an online seller, your focus should be on converting new customers into regular ones and always presenting something new and unique to them. Apart from that, your backend operations should always be top-notch. In this regard, you can take advantage of any online order management software such as eVanik OWS.

Follow These Essential Steps to Generate Your First Sale

Online shopping has become an integral part of customers’ lives. Specifically, after the pandemic, this platform has grown tremendously. Customers prefer to shop from an online store these days and want to get their products delivered to their doorstep. However, this scenario allows new sellers to start their online businesses and make their first sales. But before making any move, do follow these steps to generate your first sale without marketing.

Select a Unique Product to Sell

Firstly, choosing the right product to sell online is vital in terms of generating your first eCommerce sale. Today almost everything customers need is present on eCommerce marketplaces. The product you select to sell online is the most crucial factor that can help in generating your first sale. Your product must be a considerable item that can convince the customer to buy the product. It would be best to think wisely and on a bigger scale from a future perspective. Remember, once you decide what you want to sell, you need to focus on how to sell them without facing the situation of Oos. To avoid such situations, you can use inventory management software like eVanik OWS. It can help you in compellingly managing your inventory.

Get Aboard with the Right Platform

Selecting the right platform is the primary base of every eCommerce business. Once you choose the right product to sell, you will have to select the right platform. Most newcomers start generating their first sales through prominent websites such as Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra, etc. Always select a platform with a solid customer base, fastest order fulfillment process, convenient payment gateways, and easily integrate with your ERP system. These are some of the vital factors that can help your business grow immensely. In the initial period of your business and in the process of generating your first sale, you can take advantage of Amazon FBA. It can take care of the entire order fulfillment process.

Evaluate Every Move of Your Competitor

To attain your first eCommerce sale, it is essential to analyze every move of your competitors. It can help you to know how well they handle their online business and how many customers are involved. It can also help you to evaluate the market trends and demands of the customers closely. You need to understand that you are not the only one going online and selling your products; thousands of sellers are selling similar products as you are. That is why it will be best if you continually keep an eye on your competitors and analyze their every move. You need to find out the weak and strong points of your competitors and plan your strategy accordingly. It can lead you to a better eCommerce business plan and can further help you generate your first sale.

Promote Your Products on Social Media

It is not a deniable fact that social media is one of the best ways to create a buzz about your online business. To sell your products and generate your first sale, it is necessary to let potential customers know about your product. To promote your products, you can take advantage of various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, etc., to promote your products. Create your social media page and share it on every platform in a different mode. You can create your own campaign and showcase it on social media platforms to attain customers’ attention. Promoting your products on such a platform can help you fetch more customers on your product page and automatically increase the chances of sales.

Adequate Inventory Management

While being in the eCommerce industry, it is necessary to manage your inventory robustly. It is specifically essential when you want to sell your products on multiple platforms. You need to keep track of every product you are selling online. Believe it or not, but demand and supply is the most crucial factor of every eCommerce business; you can not fulfill any order if you do not have clarity on your inventory. In the initial period of your business, when you are struggling to generate your first sale, you have to monitor your stocks closely. Make sure that the products listed on eCommerce platforms are available to get delivered to your customers. In terms of managing your inventory accurately, you can take the help of any available inventory management software in the market, such as eVanik OWS. It can automatically adjust your inventory and never let you face the Oos situation.

Conclusion

So what are you waiting for? To generate your first eCommerce sale, you can follow the steps mentioned above. Today, eCommerce platforms provide you with the immense opportunity to sell anything online. So, you just need to take the chase and adequately plan your selling strategies to attain your first sale. Later on, you can also quickly expand your business according to your revenue. In this fast-paced world, moving to the online market is an excellent idea in terms of generating revenue and establishing a robust customer base. You can sell your products 24×7 without any eCommerce platform restrictions compared to any physical store.
Along with generating your first sale, you should also take care of your backend operations. For backend support, you can get along with eVanik OWS. It can easily integrate with various eCommerce platforms and provides shipping, payment, inventory, and return reconciliation facilities.

A Guide to Accounting Integration & Its Requirement for Business!

A Guide to Accounting Integration & Its Requirement for Your Business!

It doesn’t matter whether you are associated with eCommerce or any other business; managing finances efficiently has always been a priority. Managing accounts in an accurate manner facilitates having a clear track of profit and loss. But the challenge is one can not manually keep track of their accounts. Gone are the days when you used to calculate and keep your financial data in a traditional method by using an excel sheet. However, integrated accounting software is the utmost requirement of this modern eCommerce era.

Integrating your accounting software with robust integration provider software can streamline your business’s financial life cycle. Suppose you still tremble at the thought of attaining integrated software for your accounting system, assuming it is an expensive and complicated process.

In that case, you may miss out on the compelling benefits of these software. On the other hand, if you opt for a powerful eCommerce accounting software that utilizes a sturdy API, you may achieve your financial goals effortlessly. Thus this blog can help you to understand the step toward integrating accounting software with your eCommerce journey.

What is an Accounting Integration

An Accounting integration process lets you synchronize your generated financial data from your ERP system to the integrated software. It can integrate with multiple accounting software such as Tally, Quick books, Zoho Books, Align Books, etc. Software that provides integration usually extracts the data from your accounting system and manages it in a single dashboard.

Integrated accounting software empowers you to align your financial data properly with your existing accounting software. As an integrated accounting software, eVanik OWS offers astounding financial management and provides all your financial data in one place. It also eliminates the requirement of separate bookkeeping along with human errors.

Why Do You Require an Integrated Accounting Software

If you still do not understand the urgency for integrated accounting software, you just need to read out the following. These points will let you know why it is the need of the hour and how it can benefit your eCommerce business in a more accessible and smoother way. Let’s dig in and get clarity on accounting integration.

To Salvage Your Time

Time is money, and if you spend most of your time just on managing your finances, how will you make money or generate revenue? However, integrated accounting software can save you time in numerous ways. It automates routine processes such as invoicing and bookkeeping. If you are the one who is spending hours just managing your accounts, there are chances that you may lack in focusing on other aspects of your online business.

Using integrated accounting software could be a life changer for you. Such software saves your time and provides automation to manage your finances accurately. It stimulates the financial close and ensures compliance. In such a way, you can save time and make other strategies to revamp your business.

For Precise Financial Reports

Accurate financial reports enable a clear understanding of cash flows. But you can not get the accuracy while managing your finances manually. Integrated accounting software is essential to clarity over financial outgoing and incoming. It can help in attaining the financial statements based in real-time. Suppose you are not able to retrieve the financial report or analytics that you require to run your business in a better way through your existing accounting software.

In that case, it may be the time to indulge in an integrated financial support system. Better financial data can make you able to make better financial decisions. A lack of data can affect your financial status and push you toward business failure. Accounting integration eliminates the need to consult an accounts advisor and pay them a hefty amount by the end of every month. It can also help you gain information regarding your customers’ spending habits.

To Escape the Human Errors

With the traditional accounting practice, human errors are inescapable. On the other hand, handling financial transactions through sturdy accounting integration software, it becomes hassle-free, and the entire process can get more streamlined. Integrating accounting software eliminates the duplication of financial data if you use your accounting software for invoicing, reporting, and managing other transactional expenses. Integrating it with software like eVanik OWS can make your whole system more adequate; it may also save time and money. Real-time accounting data allows you to track historical account information as well.

For Multichannel Integration

To survive in this competitive world of eCommerce, you may require to sell your products on multiple platforms. Now, if you are a multichannel seller, then you may require integrated accounting software because managing multiple accounts can not be an easy-to-go process. A minor error can lead you to immense financial crunches. An integrated software provides the enormous feature of multichannel integration and manages all the transactional activities under one roof.

A manual process involves several errors and may consume enough time to eradicate those errors. However, software with an integration facility integrates with various channels and provides precise financial data. It is advisable to use such software if you are passionate about your business and want to expand it in the coming time. An integration feature is something that every seller should look for.

For Efficient Bookkeeping

It’s high time when you should consider integrated accounting software to process every individual transaction in an accurate manner. It is essential to manage efficiency in bookkeeping. Separately keeping all the bookkeeping can be a clumsy and time-consuming job. Though an integrated software effectively waives the requirement of separate bookkeeping. In such a manner, it can become easier for you to cross-check the errors to maintain overall cash flow accuracy and provide correct and systematic bills to your customers.

Challenges You May Face While Managing Accounts & Bookkeeping

  • Setting off bulk payments against every individual sales invoice.
  • Settling the customer and courier returns against the original invoice
  • Incorporating the GST number for B2B sellers in the sales voucher to receive the GST tax input credit.
  • Recording the monthly commission invoices to avail, GST returns.
  • Match the sales and returns with the MTR report provided by eCommerce marketplaces.
  • Challenges in filing GSTR accurately and on time.

Benefits of Integrated Accounting Software

  • It eradicates the requirement of downloading or uploading CSV and excel files from any eCommerce platforms seller panels.
  • Through effective API integration, all the data from the eCommerce sites can automatically get synchronized with it.
  • It supports one-time product and ledger mapping through the UI.
  • It minimizes the obligation of installing a third-party module.
  • An integrated software such as eVanik provides the facility to match the MTR report with the integrated data into Tally PRIME.

Conclusion

If you are selling your products on various eCommerce platforms and associating with such accounting software that doesn’t provide integration, you may inevitably end up with overlapping financial data. With the help of integrated accounting software, you may instantaneously cumulate all your transactional data, sales reports, budget analysis, and profit and loss accounts in a centralized way. It can become easier for you to analyze whether your eCommerce business is profitable or not and in which areas you need to imply improvements.

Moreover, it saves time and effort by eliminating the need for individual analysis of each report and transaction. Using integrated software is vital in providing a quick overview of your entire business expenses and profits. It can help you enormously with initiating a business strategy and fixing a budget. It may also help you manage your inventory and implement smart pricing strategies. Most importantly, you will always be 100% GST compliant.

A Guide to the AJIO Seller Registration Process!

A Guide to the AJIO Seller Registration Process!

There are so many emerging eCommerce platforms in India, but very few are popular among the border range of customers. Ajio is one of them; it has been established as a lifestyle and fashion brand and is an eCommerce initiative taken by Reliance Digital in 2016. In a short time, this eCommerce platform has become a one-stop online shopping destination for millions of customers. Today along with fashion apparel, it has a long category of products at a reasonable price for its customers. Ajio always offers the best market price, which is the key to its success.

It is the ultimate reason why this eCommerce joint is snowballing and attracting thousands of sellers to come aboard and start their eCommerce journey on a triumphant note. Ajio is constantly looking to introduce fresh, trendy, and quality products to its customers. This platform always wants to educate customers a bit more about styling. So customers are also getting attracted to this platform. It provides immense opportunities to the sellers who want to mark their presence on eCommerce marketplaces. In this specific blog, you will be able to learn about the seller registration process on this platform.

Products that You can Sell on AJIO

Before moving further, it is crucial to know the product categories or product range that AJIO offers you to sell on this platform. It consists of a wide range of product categories on this platform. There are four main product categories of Ajio, such as Men, Women, Kids, Indie, and Home & kitchens. Here we are going to provide an elaborative idea of these categories.

Men: For men, Ajio offers a wide range of products, such as an entire range of ethnic and western wear clothing, footwear, and accessories (including watches, belts, sunglasses, bags, formal and casual shoes, sandals, flip flops, etc.), winter wear, night and loungewear, grooming products and innerwear.

Women: For women, they have an excellent and alluring range of products, such as ethnic, fusion, and western wear clothing, jewelry, footwear, and accessories(including heels, boots, casual and formal shoes, sandals, flip-flops, belts, sunglasses, watches, stoles, etc.), winter wear, night and loungewear, beauty products, lingerie, etc.

Kids: For kids, AJIO offers products ranging from 0-14 years of boys and girls. It offers baby sets, boys’ and girls’ ethnic and western clothing, toys and baby care products, footwear and accessories, innerwear, and sleepwear.

Indie: Indie is a specific product category on AJIO; it offers beautiful handmade artisan products from all over India, such as handmade sarees, kurtas, footwear, jewelry, shawls & stoles, bags, bedsheets, cushion covers, curtains, etc. Customers can buy regional handmade products such as Kutch embroidery, Ajrak, Ikkat, Banarasi, Kalamkari, chanderi, and a lot more variety.

Home & Kitchen: There is a wide range of home and kitchen products available on AJIO. Bed linen, cushions and pillows, rugs, carpets and mats, curtains and mats, all kinds of cookware, dining sets, stationary and organizers, home decor items, festive gifts products, gardening & planters, and bathing essentials.

Thus as a seller on Ajio, you can also select and sell products from these categories on this eCommerce platform. Now, let’s quickly know the first step you need to take to become an AJIO seller.

The Process to Become an AJIO Seller

A single portal is available for seller registration from Reliance’s end that offers the registration for AJIO, Reliance digital, and Jiomart. To register as an AJIO seller, you must complete the registration process carefully. This platform is very particular about who they are onboarding as a seller. For the registration process, you need to follow these steps.

  • First, you need to visit the seller registration portal of AJIO and fill out the registration form by providing all the essential information.
  • You need to provide the details as per their requirements. It includes your registered office address as well.
  • You must provide several documents such as a PAN card, Aadhar card, current bank account details, GST details, etc.

    After providing all the essential information, AJIO offers you to select product categories that you want to sell on this platform.

Further Steps After the Registration Process

  • AJIO will send you an OTP on your registered number regarding your form submission.
  • After the form submission, you will receive a request code number.
  • You may have to wait more than seven days to get clarity on your registration application.
  • You can check the status of your application on the portal and submit your PAN card number and the code you received during this time.
  • After a wait of a few days, you can receive the details of payment terms from AJIO.

Ajio can charge you a commission between 20%-40% based on the product category you have chosen to sell.

Required Documents for AJIO Registration

  • PAN Card
  • Aadhar Card
  • MSME certificate
  • Bank account details along with a canceled cheque.
  • Logo if you have any.
  • GST Details
  • CIN and TIN certificate (If own a private company)
  • Trademark certificate

AJIO supports B2B and Dropshipping both business models, and you can choose any of these two to start your eCommerce journey with this platform.

Essential Steps to Become an AJIO Seller

  • Always try to sell high-demand and trending products.
  • Keep an eye on your inventory to miss out on a chance to increase your sales. In this regard, you can get along with any available inventory management software such as eVanik OWS.
  • Offer high-quality products to your customers to escape the situation of escape.
  • List your products adequately on AJIO by including high-quality images, product descriptions, product titles, etc.
  • Get along with integrated accounting software to manage your finances smartly and effectively.
  • To manage your orders efficiently and please your customers, you must take the help of a powerful eCommerce management software such as eVanik OWS.

Conclusion

Thus, this is all about the AJIO; if you want to sell your products on this emerging eCommerce channel, you can follow the above-mentioned steps to register yourself as an AJIO seller. However, if you think it’s an easy task to be a seller on Ajio, hold on to your horses. It requires more qualities than just filling out the application form. In this regard, some additional steps can help you immensely, such as having an MSME (Ministry of Micro, Small and medium enterprises) certificate and a logo of your own to represent yourself as a distinct brand. Apart from this, a trademark can also help you get onboard with AJIO. Once you get registered as a seller on this platform, you have to make your strong presence to become successful and generate decent revenue. In this regard, you can take the help of eCommerce management software such as eVanik OWS. It can help you manage your back office operations accurately and effectively.

Inventory Shrinkage and Tactics to Protect your Stocks!

Inventory Shrinkage and Tactics to Protect your Stocks Effectively!

In the enormous eCommerce industry, if you want to run your business successfully, you have to escape the situation of inventory shrinkage and apply some of the spectacular strategies or tactics to protect your stocks. As a seller, you must have experienced that you can not fulfill your customers’ demands if there is insufficient inventory. Inventory shrinkage affects your eCommerce business drastically. It will always be a hindrance to your business growth.

So there is no other way apart from handling it efficiently. If you cannot handle your inventory, you won’t be able to secure your stocks either. If you are new in this industry and do not have any idea about inventory shrinkage, this blog is for you. Here you will know exactly what inventory shrinkage is and what strategies you can implement to protect your stocks. However, to escape this situation, you can take the help of some inventory management software such as eVanik OWS. It can help you avoid the situation of Oos (Out-of-stock) by providing a centralized inventory feature.

Definition of Inventory Shrinkage

Before going any further, knowing what inventory shrinkage means is essential, as many of you may not be aware of this term. Well, inventory shrinkage refers to the situation where your actual inventory count is less than your accounting has recorded. It clearly means that something has gone wrong, either a human error or theft. Usually, it happens because of human error, shipping damage, or theft. You can get into this situation because of vendor fraud, mistakes in matching the inventory with your accounts, and several human errors in receiving or sending the stock deliveries. It doesn’t matter how it happens; as a seller, you need to know the root cause of inventory shrinkage to prevent it from happening again in the future.

What Could be the Effect of Inventory Shrinkage on Your Business
Inventory shrinkage can hurt your online business in many ways. Not paying attention to inventory can cause heavy damage in terms of generating revenue and making a solid customer base. Here we will mention some of the crucial effects of inventory shrinkage.

Can Hamper Your Overall Revenue

Suppose you buy thousands of apparel to sell on various marketplaces from a manufacturer, and hundreds of them get damaged or disappear every month. What will happen next? Well, you are right it can hamper your overall monthly revenue. The motive of every business is to generate significant revenue, but if you fail in attaining that somewhere your motive of doing this business will also get hampered automatically.

Effects Customer Satisfaction

Customer satisfaction should be the ultimate goal of any business. It can not be done without fulfilling their orders on time. But how will you fulfill their requirements if the product is not available in your stock? At this time, customers have to face the out-of-stock situation, and they can buy the identical product from your competitors and may not return to you in the future. In the situation of inventory shrinkage, you won’t be able to track how many products are left in your stock. In another way, we can say that you are selling products blindly without knowing the exact number of your inventory.

It can Deteriorate Your Reputation

Here you need to think from a customer’s perspective; suppose if you are looking for a specific product and buying it from an authenticated seller, but it shows that the product is not available in stock, what will you do? You will find other sellers and purchase identical products from them. Similarly, if your customers face similar situations frequently, it can ruin your reputation in the marketplaces. Out of the stock, the situation can somehow get controlled and is understandable for customers to some extent. But suppose, if damaged or broken products get delivered to your customers due to the inventory shrinkage. In that case, it can drastically affect your business and can be the reason for your downfall. Good work always takes time to gain recognition, but one lousy work can spread like fire.

Tremendous Ways to Protect Stocks from Inventory Shrinkage

Every Product Variant must Have an SKU

SKU refers to the stock-keeping unit for every product, consisting of several letters and numbers. It helps provide unique identification to every product and helps keep an accurate stock record. If each of your products has an SKU, it allows all the human hands, from warehouse staff to you, to track inventories more effectively. In this way, it can become easier for you to keep track of each of your products and avoid the situation of inventory shrinkage.

Always Buy Items from a Reliable Source

Being an online seller, it is quite important for you to buy products from a reliable source only. If your vendors or manufacturers are not able to provide you with the stocks on time, then it can again put you in the situation of inventory shortage. If your products are already listed on various eCommerce platforms and are about to get out of stock, you will obviously rely on your suppliers. But if they won’t be able to fulfill your demands on time, then it will cause a considerable loss to you. So it is best to choose reputed and reliable manufacturers or suppliers. Apart from this, you also need to organize your purchase in terms of their real-time position. Suppose it is in transit, late, or gets delivered to you. In case of late or delayed orders, you need to take the follow-up from suppliers.

Take Help of an Inventory Management Software

It can be the best way to prevent the situation of inventory shrinkage. Today there are various inventory management software available in the market. They can help you in managing Inventory in an accurate manner. It can get integrated with your system and help you in managing your inventory across various eCommerce platforms. In this regard, you can take the help of eVanik OWS. It provides you inventory report as well to have clarity on your inventory.

Conclusion

Thus, in this way, you will be able to have control over inventory shrinkage.
No one can deny that the eCommerce industry is evolving every day. To survive in this industry for a more extended period of time, you have to minimize the risk of inventory shrinkage. It is not only harmful to your conversions but your customer relationship as well. An exceptional inventory management software leads to a well-organized warehouse, which also diminishes the chance of theft. The accuracy of data and insights can provide you with a clearer picture of the availability and unavailability of the product. All these facts ultimately lead you to generate revenue from your online eCommerce business.