6 Useful Tips for Organizing Inventory All Small Businesses Should Use

Did you know that 20% of small businesses fail in their first year? With so many businesses closing their doors within a year of first opening you might be looking for ways to make sure that you are not part of this statistic. Organization is a huge factor of success and learning the best tools to use for organizing inventory is key.

Keep reading to learn about the best tips to use for your inventory management. 

1. First In, First Out Method

The goal of this method is to sell the merchandise acquired most recently last and the oldest inventory first. If you have items that are perishable this is really important because you do not want to be left with any spoiled inventory.

Click And Mortar Accounting is a great way to keep track of your inventory when it is sold. First in, first out is not only great for perishable items it is really good for any inventory because you do not want items to be left sitting around for a long time. You will run the risk of boxes wearing out and critters going into the boxes or inventory looking old.

2. Reports

Creating different reports such as sales reports, purchasing reports, and inventory reports are very useful when it comes to keeping track of inventory. The data and information can be pulled from the current database that is used to manage the current inventory. 

You can print out standard reports or modify and customize them to fit your business needs. Figuring out your sales history for each specific customer can come in handy or printing out a report with an inventory analysis by product. 

Reports are beneficial because you can see a detailed amount of information all in one place. This will help save you time when you are collecting information. 

3. Track Best Sellers

If you have multiple items you want to know what is actually selling and what is not. Most of your sales are probably coming from the same product and you might not realize it. Knowing what these items are will help you know what to order the most of.

You will also be able to keep those bestsellers handy instead of in a corner making them hard to access to package and send out. When you see the best sellers running low you can easily re-order to make sure that you do not sell out.

4. Inventory Apps

Thanks to technology there are many inventory management apps out there to help you manage your stock without having to break the bank by setting up an expensive inventory management software system. 

Prices can range anywhere between free to $100+ per month, depending on the features that you need. 

Sortly

This app will help you stay on top of your items and they allow you to try them out with a free trial to see if they are a good fit for your specific needs. You can stay on top of your stock levels automatically and track your items using barcodes or QR. 

If you have only one user then you can use this plan for free as long as you only use up to 100 entries. If you need a multiuser plan then their advanced plan is only $39 per month. 

Delivrd

This is a cloud solution to help you keep track of inventory and to help you with order fulfillment. A pro about using Delivrd is that since they support the entire order fulfillment process from sourcing to shipping you can easily track what products are profitable and which ones are not.

They also offer a free plan if you only need a single user or they have a $49.99 per month plan per user for unlimited inventory and order management. Their most expensive plan is $99 per month per user for e-commerce fulfillment.

5. Move Inventory Outside

If your office is cluttered with inventory and you barely have room to sit at your desk, it is time to move your inventory off-site. You can’t efficiently get your work done if your space is cluttered with a ton of product. 

Take the time to find a storage unit that is climate controlled to keep your inventory from becoming damaged. As your business grows you can put someone in charge of going to your storage unit to gather the product to ship out without having to give anyone access to your office where you might have private information about your business. 

6. Barcoding

Using barcodes is a great way to get and stay organized. This will allow you to assign, scan, and manage barcodes from a phone app or with a tool. There is barcode hardware that will allow you to print out labels as well.

Barcode software will allow you to manage the barcode and inventory information. The great thing about using barcodes is the accuracy and speed of doing so. It is a quick process to scan a code and know how much of a certain item you have rather than counting everything manually. It is also more accurate because counting manually is an easy way to miscount, especially when you have hundreds of the same item. This process has a variety of useful applications, including police work, where it is used by an evidence management system.

Ready to Use These Tools for Organizing Inventory?

Now that you have our list of the top tools for organizing inventory which tool or tools will you use? With the right tools, your business can manage its inventory and avoid keeping excess inventory around.  

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