Maintaining an accurate inventory is crucial for retail and hospitality businesses. From small family run cafés to multi-location retailers, staying on top of inventory will mean the chance of running out of stock is minimised, creating a more positive experience for customers.
Epos Now is a POS provider that offers advanced point of sale solutions with a focus on inventory management. They help their customers stay on top of stock through data-driven insights, optimising purchasing decisions through the use of data analysis.
In this article, we discuss three of the ways that inventory accuracy can be improved after switching to Epos Now.
Low-Stock Alerts
Staying on top of stock levels is one of the biggest challenges faced by a seller. Having to find the balance between having enough stock to meet demand and having no space to store too much stock can feel like an impossible balancing act.
Epos Now uses low-stock alerts which notify the business owner when stock of a certain product is starting to run low. If an item count falls below the threshold, the system sends an automated notification to the person in charge of inventory management, allowing them to reorder it before the remaining stock runs out completely.
These alerts can be customised, allowing the business to input at what point they would like to be notified. This can be changed per product should be required, being fully personalisable to meet the needs of the business. For example, items that are in higher demand and sell at a quicker rate will need ordering with more notice than slower-selling items.
For maximum efficiency, the POS system can be integrated with suppliers to automatically reorder the products that are running low. By initiating the reorder within the same platform that tracks inventory levels, accuracy levels remain high and time is saved for employees who would’ve had to otherwise manage the ordering process themselves.
Advanced Reporting
To be able to fine-tune inventory management and maintain accurate stock levels, a business needs to be able to effectively analyse sales data and trends.
Epos Now uses advanced reporting features that provide insight into product performance, market trends, and stock levels. These metrics can be used to predict upcoming sales and plan accordingly, helping define which items are underperforming and which are in high demand.
For businesses that have multiple locations, the ability to produce reports that break down the data per branch means the performance of each can be compared. This also allows the business to identify any local trends that may impact the popularity of different products per location, helping them adjust offerings accordingly.
Segment Inventory
For businesses who have a wide product range, segmenting inventory into different categories can help make stock management easier. For example, a clothing store categories may segment things like jackets, tops, and socks, or in a restaurant, ingredients may be broken down fresh produce, dairy, and meat.
Depending on the size of the business, categories may take segmenting even further if there is a wide range of products to manage. If we stick with the clothing example, inventory could be filtered further by clothing size or colour.
Epos Now allows businesses to define categories and assign products into each. This means they are able to monitor stock per category, using analytics to define any trends or slow movers in the segment. If there are particular categories which seem to sell faster, these can become focal areas to help maximize overall sales.
As well as making it easier to manage stock, this system helps to create a more efficient warehouse system. Organizing products based on the segments will make it easy to locate different items and restock when a new order comes in.
How You Can Help Your Business Thrive
With the help of Epos Now, inventory management can go from a stressful part of everyday operations to an automated process that improves accuracy.
Switching to a data-driven approach means the advanced technology capabilities can predict sales figures using a combination of historical data and sales trends. Using POS data to inform your inventory orders will prevent the risk of running out of stock or overordering and running out of storage space.
By updating to a modern system that helps you stay on top of your inventory without all of the hassle that comes with it, you can focus your new-found time on growing your business and providing a next-level customer expeirence.
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