How to manage your products & stock like a pro

Do you store and manage online store products, printed marketing material, e-commerce stock, stock for retails stores or just store a lot of business related material?

Do you store and manage online store products, printed marketing material, e-commerce stock, stock for retails stores or just store a lot of business related material?

Managing your inventory and product stock can get confusing fast. Between manufacturing, ordering, storing and fulfilling orders,  staff can get easily overwhelmed. The biggest mistake you can make is to manage your stock on an ad hoc basis.

However, managing your stock doesn’t have to be hard. By using simple spreadsheets and getting organised at the beginning, you can save yourself time and money – without using expensive software programs.

Here are the three main elements to getting your products organised and efficient. OK, Let’s get started!

1.   Create a product List 

Knowing exactly what products you stock sounds simple, but essential information is often overlooked. Keep an up to date and detailed product list to be used as a master for all other management documents and spreadsheets.

Key elements of your product list are
– SKU Codes
– Product Names
– Description
– Attributes
– Unit Prices

Versatile lists can also include information on suppliers and discontinued stock.

2.    Manage your stock inventory

Knowing exactly how much stock you have is the simplest and easiest way no to lose anything. Lost stock will straight up hurt your bottom line. Managing your incoming and outgoing stock is essential for re-ordering and keeping everything up to date. Your stock inventory will help you keep track of

– In stock quantity
– Average sales
– Re-order quantities
– Re-ordering dates
– Re-ordering lead times

All these numbers can easily be calculated using an excel spreadsheet. Inventory and stock management systems can integrate with your ordering system, however they can be too expensive for start up stores.

3.   Manage your stock locations

Managing the location and movements of your stock is one on the hardest things as a small business owner. If your garage or shed is the location of your mini-warehouse then space constraints are going to be the #1 factor. Organisation will be the key to making your warehouse work.

– Managing your stock locations will includes
– Picking bays
– Stock replenishment
– Palette storage

Managing your stock locations is the trickiest and most time consuming part of storing your products at home. Using stock location codes will make it easier to track and locate stock. If your store has more than 5 orders a day it may be time to move your warehousing and distribution to a professional company.

Now that you understand the three main parts of organising and managing your online stock products, you are on the way to running an efficient system that is ready for growth. Are you ready start creating your lists and inventories? Download our Stock Management e-Guide by clicking here. 
Want to know more about Quickmail’s warehousing and fulfilment services? Contact us on 08 9493 0477.