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Inventory Management Tips for the Beginning Shipper

Contributed by: Marcus Lansky

When you run a business that ships products, you have inventory. Inventory is simply the items that you have in stock and ready to ship. It’s an important aspect of running your business because if you have too little on hand, you’ll disappoint customers. If you stock too many of the items you don’t need, and you will likely wind up with a loss at the end of the year. 

Know what you have, what you need, and what you don’t.

Nordstrom made news recently for an inventory snafu that left its back shelves stocked and its investors worried. The retail giant failed to accurately forecast holiday demand and also failed to take into account the need for discounts to attract price-savvy online buyers. 

The point here is that even the big guys make mistakes, but you likely can’t handle Nordstrom-level losses. Get ahead of this problem by taking an accurate count of what you have. Then, look at sales data from the last year to decide how much more, if any, you need of each product you sell. This is forecasting at its most basic level. By knowing your numbers and making tweaks to your stock, you can avoid a financial crisis. 

Use your barcodes for more than numbers.

Barcodes are the backbone of your stockroom. If you aren’t already using them to keep track of incoming and outgoing shipments, it’s time you did. But inventory aside, your barcode system can also help you keep up with your usually unacknowledged business assets, including machine parts and industrial supplies. After all, these things cost money, too.

Before you start stickering everything in sight, however, make certain that your labels are up to the task based on the environment where they’ll be used; for example, some labels will peel off in high heat or when they get wet. If your tags are not sticking, then you’re wasting money on the labels and the manpower to use them. 

Stock your shelves efficiently. 

If you find that you spend more time running back and forth to find items for shipping than you do taking orders, you have an organization issue. You also likely have a safety problem. 

Evaluate how efficient your stocking methods are. To streamline the packing process, stock complementary items near each other. If you sell jewelry by the piece, for example, keep like items within reach. That way, you aren’t running the length of your floor space to grab the earrings that go with the bracelet. 

By organizing your space, you’ll also increase safety. That’s crucial because, as EHS Daily Advisor points out, warehouses are an accident waiting to happen. 

Do not leave quality control to chance.

You might not associate quality control with productivity, customer satisfaction, and profits, but they are all directly linked. Quality management, according to ISO Ready Quality Certification Services, makes businesses better for everyone, and can result in happier customers and employees. Having a system of quality checks in place can keep you from sitting on faulty goods, which means you can replace bad stock as soon as possible. And if you QA check every item as it goes out the door, you’ll also prevent unhappy customers by making sure they get the right items and that each order is complete.

These are all smart steps for the novice shipper but also serve as a refresher if you’ve let things slide in recent times. Remember, your inventory matters, and more than you think. By taking control of what’s in your warehouse, you take control of your business.