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.
