Everything you need to know to prevent deadstock from accumulating

Posted on November 29, 2022 | by chrisqureshi | Leave a Comment

It’s common practice for retailers to have a bit more inventory than they think they’ll need. It’s for contingency, and it’s called safety stock. The reason for doing it is sound: it means never having to turn a customer away.

But sometimes miscalculations are made. Items may go out of style or something in the market may change. Either one of these instances will result in a business being stuck with the extra inventory, and when that happens the goods turn from safety stock to deadstock.

In this blog, we’re going to look at deadstock in detail – how you end up with it, how to deal with it, and how to avoid prevent deadstock in the first place.

Deadstock – the definition

If you have inventory in stock that’s been gathering dust on a warehouse shelf for a long time, you’re holding deadstock. It’s stuff you can’t sell and are probably never going to sell.

How good stock becomes deadstock

1. Not enough demand

An item was selling like hotcakes before it wasn’t, or items you thought would do well didn’t. Alternatively, outside forces like extreme weather or a downturn in the economy could have impacted your sales.

2. Too much competition

You’ve stocked up on the same products that everyone else has. Maybe you’re a small player that can’t beat the prices of larger competitors, or maybe the market has become too flooded with those particular items.

3. Slow reactions to the market

You waited too long to react to slow sales and didn’t offer discounts when you should have.

4. Not getting customer input/not doing research

Someone didn’t put enough effort into getting feedback from your customer base through methods like emails or online reviews, so you weren’t aware of the kind of products customers wanted to buy.

5. Low-quality products

Some of your products were of low quality, customers were not happy, and they returned them. Or maybe the low quality resulted in bad word of mouth.

6. Predictions weren’t right

Maybe data and research told you that particular items would be good sellers, but the information didn’t take everything into account.

Good reasons to do something about deadstock

Deadstock can have negative effects on your business. Here are a few of them:

It occupies space you can and should be using for items that move.
It stops you from buying new items.
It ties up your cash flow – money you could to buy more popular products.
It increases your warehouse costs, like cost for employees and storage space.

Ways to prevent deadstock

If you’re in the business of sales, you know that getting inventory planning right is important. What to order, when to order, how much to order, the list goes on. If you get any of these areas wrong, you’re in danger of ending up with deadstock. It can happen to anyone, but there are steps that can be taken to make it less likely.

1. Invest in inventory management software.

Ditch your spreadsheets. They’re not only old school, they’re time consuming and prone to error. Automating your buying decisions with the data inventory management software (IMS) gives you is efficient and much more accurate.

The precise data, reports, and advanced analytics you get from IMS software does more than help you identify best-selling items, it will also separate out those that aren’t selling quickly. When you have that information, abra cadabra, no more deadstock.

2. Improve your forecasting.

Product forecasting analyzes competitors, works out pricing strategies, studies market trends, and “learns” customer preferences. Put together, this information gives you an invaluable forecast on your market, and when you have this information, you’re much more likely to acquire inventory that’s going to sell.

3. Use your buyback option.

If you have an agreement that allows you to sell unsold items back to the supplier, this is a good time to use it. If you don’t have such an agreement in place, try to get one. Of course, you should always check to see if buyback is even an option during early negotiations with your suppliers.

Keep in mind that those manufacturers and suppliers that do offer buyback are usually the more reputable ones, and that the products they handle are usually high quality.

How do you get rid of deadstock?

If you do find yourself saddled with things you can’t sell at their standard price, there are things you can do:

1. Have a clearance sale.

This is the time-honored method for reducing unsold stock. You don’t want these goods tying up your storage space for years, so anything that has been hanging around for six months should be discounted. You could start this at 20% off and increase that amount if you have to.

Advertising clearance sales and other discounts on your website and social media is the best way to get the word out. Sending emails about the event to your mailing list should also get good results. And depending on the size of your company and the market you operate in, you could consider investing in local radio and television advertising.

While this strategy should help you clear out a lot of deadstock, it’s still way better to avoid having it in the first place. If bad inventory management has been the cause, it’s time you consider a good automated inventory management system like Cin7.

2. Take advantage of the fear of missing out.

There is a marketing term called “Fear of Missing Out.” It’s about creating a sense of urgency in shoppers, letting them think that if they don’t buy something right there and then, they’ll be missing out.

Marketing strategies for this usually boil down to putting limits on offers. These could be in the form of an end date to a sale, or letting customers know that there’s only a limited number of items on offer. In other words, you could advertise an “end of sale by Thursday,” or “50% off this week only,” or offer “last (x number) of products left.”

When it comes to presenting deadstock as a deal in this way, the underlying point is that you’re appealing to customers who are more interested in getting a bargain than the product. That doesn’t matter, though; you’ll still be offloading your old, otherwise unwanted, goods.

3. Bundle.

This option is about grouping similar products together and offering them at a special price.

By using this technique, you could combine something in your deadstock with top-selling items. You won’t get top-dollar for everything, but you will greatly minimize your losses.

Wrapping up

Deadstock is a drag in more ways than one, and it’s important to minimize it. Technology is the best and most reliable way of doing this. So why not invest in a robust inventory management system like Cin7?

Cin7 inventory management software is an ideal choice for businesses of any size. By automating workflows and stock levels in real time, you’ll always know what you have and can ensure you’re stocking the right amount of the right product. That means an end to deadstock. And if that’s not enough to streamline your business and improve your bottom line, the software also connects all your storage locations and marketplaces – online and offline – into one system.

If you’d like to know more, contact our Cin7 team and arrange a demo today.

7 tips for warehouse safety

Posted on November 25, 2022 | by chrisqureshi | Leave a Comment

Warehouses can be hazardous. First, the items they hold are stacked high and close together to make the best use of space. Second, a lot of pickers and machinery are going back and forth between the aisles and up and down the storage bins all the time. If the items haven’t been stored properly, if a worker is careless, or if a machine malfunctions, an accident can happen.

To prevent this, there should be strong safety measures and procedures that everyone should follow, and they should be enforced. We’ve honed them down and categorized them into seven main areas.

7 measures to take to ensure safety in warehouses

#1 Keep all spaces clean and tidy.

Dirt, grease, or messes of any kind can be a hazard. Workers could slip on them, and machines could stumble. At the very least, if these obstacles don’t cause a bad accident, they could severely affect workflow in the warehouse.

It’s important, then, for floors and work areas to be kept as clean as possible, which means not just sweeping, but washing them frequently. Any spills should be swept or wiped up immediately; and if any of that spillage could be from harsh chemicals that are being stored, having a special spill kit that can deal with it on hand is imperative.

Hygiene is also a factor to take into account, especially when Covid is still around. Have hand sanitizer prominently placed in several areas, keep all equipment clean, and request that your employees stay home if they feel ill.

#2 Provide regular safety training.

While safety training for new employees happens frequently, it’s just as important for existing staff to review safety precautions regularly. Safety training should cover everything from ensuring work spaces and equipment are kept safe to instructions on actions to take when anything goes wrong or an unforeseen emergency happens. Providing training every three or four months is ideal. It’s also a good idea to distribute a safety manual to your workforce.

In addition to making everyone aware of safety in the warehouse, all employees should know what to do in an emergency like a fire or an earthquake. Training and drills should take place on a regular basis. It’s also important to have exit routes clearly marked and accessible at all times and to have enough of them in the building for the size of the space.

#3 Put up clear signage.

Signs that warn about potential hazards are essential. These signs should let employees know where dangerous or inflammable materials are stored, if heavy equipment is nearby, or even which items in storage are heavy. When it comes to the building itself, letting everyone know about design elements that could trip them up, like steps at the end of an aisle, is a good idea.

Since warehouses are more often than not huge spaces in which one section looks the same as another, finding your way can be a challenge in an emergency. To overcome this, there should be large signs with bold lettering that point to emergency exits.

#4 Have the right safety equipment.

Proper safety gear, like lifting belts, should be provided to ensure your employees’ well-being. Depending on the type of material your workforce has to handle or the conditions they’re working in, other forms of safety equipment, such as respirators or hearing protection, might be needed. Utility knives with protective sheathing and walkie talkies also come under this category, the latter being especially needed in ultra large warehouses.

On a wider level, fire and smoke alarms should be adequately placed, along with fire extinguishers. If your company handles hazardous materials, your fire extinguishers should be the right ones for whatever the materials are. And, of course, first aid kits should be available in easy-to-locate areas.

All safety equipment should be checked regularly.

#5 Give out protective clothing.

Here we include safety goggles, safety vests, safety gloves, hard hats and even steel-toe boots. Protective clothing should be a good fit for the individual worker. Loose clothing could get caught in machinery, and a badly fitting hard hat is no use to anyone.

#6 Ensure heavy equipment is used correctly.

Forklifts and pallet jacks could cause serious injury if not handled correctly or if someone gets in their way. Make sure heavy equipment is only operated by properly trained personnel, and that the equipment has its own pathways in the warehouse. Equipment should be restricted by a speed limit that is enforced.

#7 Store items properly.

Warehouses store items on high shelving where they are packed tightly together. To prevent anything from falling and causing injuries, everything should be placed with care, one thing stacked straight on top of another, and heavier pieces should be stored on lower shelves.

Make the most of your warehouse with Cin7

When you put recommended safety measures in place, you’re less likely to have downtime caused by injuries. Plus, your workforce will feel much safer.

To optimize warehouse operations even more, there are warehouse management systems (WMS) like Cin7. This software helps organize your warehouse, which helps you maintain a safe working environment.

To find out more about Cin7’s WMS and how it can make your life as a warehouse manager easier, book a free consultation with one of our experts.

The strategic importance of order processing in supply chain management

Posted on November 21, 2022 | by chrisqureshi | Leave a Comment

For an online sales business or a manufacturing company, it’s all about the supply chain. It covers everything from the procurement of items for sale, or raw materials for the production process, to delivery of the items or products. Controlling the supply chain and keeping oversight on it is, as would be expected, supply chain management (SCM). Order processing is the central pillar of SCM; in a way, it’s the heart of the whole fulfillment process.

In this blog, we’re going to take a close look at how order processing works, and explore its importance to supply chain management.

What is order processing?

Order processing goes into effect the minute customers select and pay for goods online and continues until those goods are received. Broad in scope, it follows defined steps to get to that end point.

Here’s how the process breaks down:

Step 1: Orders are received

As soon as customers have filled their online carts and paid for their goods, their orders are transmitted to the warehouse or fulfillment center. Here they’re broken down into their component parts, which means product, quantity, size/color (if relevant), etc.

If the sales or fulfillment company is large enough, these order details are processed by an automated inventory management system (IMS). This sophisticated software will know if customers’ goods are in stock, and if so where they are. In essence, the system is able to determine the best warehouse to route the order to; and if some items aren’t available right away, it will give instructions to send them as, and when, they are. In addition, if a customer has put in more than one order, the IMS can consolidate them into one package.

Step 2: Items are picked

Picking describes the actual job of collecting items for an order from their storage spaces. Pickers do the job. Warehouses can be large—some are gargantuan—so getting organization into this process can be complicated. Picking can either be done on an individual-order basis, by warehouse zone, or in bulk – which means picking for several orders at the same time.

Irrespective of the method used, the whole process starts with a picking list that itemizes everything according to its storage location and sets out a route round the warehouse for the pickers to take. The aim, of course, is to cut down the picking time.

Step 3: Orders are sorted out

After picking, items are taken to a sorting area. If they were picked in bulk or by warehouse zone, this is the area where they’ll be sorted into their individual orders. This is also the time when items are checked against the original orders to make sure everything is there, is in good order, and of high quality.

Step 4: Order are packed up

Making sure the appropriate packaging is used is trickier than might be thought. The box itself should be the right size for the items and strong enough to hold them during shipping, and the padding inside should be enough to protect the contents, but light enough to keep transportation costs down. Sometimes this padding has to be specialized. If food is being packed, for instance, it might have to be kept cool with gel packs or dry ice.

After being packed up, shipping labels are attached.

Step 5: Orders are shipped

We’re now near the end of order processing. After boxing and labeling, shipments are organized by geographical location and assigned to their respective delivery trucks. Size and weight might also be a consideration when selecting transport: extra heavy items, or those that need refrigeration, will need specialized trucks. At this stage, the type of delivery a customer paid for also has to be taken into consideration. Expedited delivery, for example, will be given priority. The point is that it’s important to deliver an item at the time the customer expects it.

Step 6: Orders are delivered

Order delivery is the last step of the order processing system. The customer can choose a particular time to have their order delivered, or they can leave special instructions, like having the package be left with a neighbor. If a customer has opted for Cash on Delivery (COD), the delivery drive will be the one who collects the payment.

The importance of order processing in supply chain management

Order processing is the core, the beating heart at the center of the supply chain system that everything else more or less has to service. In essence, for any sales, fulfillment, or manufacturing entity, processing orders – getting them together and getting them to the right customer in time – is what they’re about. It’s true that without proper management in any area of the supply chain businesses won’t perform at their best, but when it comes to order processing, its efficiency, speed, accuracy, and cost-effectiveness are actually the determining factors of success and, ultimately, profit.

Whatever way you look at it, though, supply chain management is a complex operation. That’s why it’s a good idea to automate it.

The upsides of automation are:

maximized profits,
minimized costs,
improved customer satisfaction,
increased market share,
reduced workload for employees, and
an overall boost to the company’s brand and reputation.

Final thoughts on order processing and its importance to the system as a whole

Having looked closely at the complete supply chain, we can see that everything centers on the order processing part. Putting orders together and getting them to customers is, in effect, the commercial activity that reasons for the company’s existence.

Automating all or some of the areas of supply chain management with an inventory management system can be of great benefit to a company, both logistically and financially. Cin7 is one of the best.

To learn more about how Cin7 can help your business, you can book a demo from one of our experts by clicking here.

What does “awaiting delivery scan” and other USPS notifications mean?

Posted on November 16, 2022 | by chrisqureshi | Leave a Comment

Globally, the number of parcels shipped has increased dramatically in the past decade. In 2020, there were more than 131 billion shipped parcels, and by 2026 that number is expected to rise to 236 billion. This volume is forcing sellers and shippers to improve their services, and that includes the ability to track packages.

Tracking has become very important to online shoppers. Their eagerness to get their purchases has them checking the delivery status almost from the minute they click the “buy” button. There’s this need to see where the packages are in the system at all times, up until they’re delivered to the door.

Sometimes, though, tracking comes up with a message that indicates a glitch, though there’s no explanation what that is. One such message is the “USPS awaiting delivery scan.” In this blog, we’re going to explain this term and several other notifications of the tracking system.

What exactly does the “USPS awaiting delivery scan” mean?

It could mean two things:

The package may not have been scanned at the last checkpoint when it was loaded onto the mail truck. The item will be in the truck and will probably be delivered on time, but without being scanned before loading it up, the tracking page will still show the delivery scan holdup.

Another possibility is that the package wasn’t scanned by the mail carrier when it was dropped off at the buyer’s house; or if they did the scan, it didn’t register in the system for some technical reason. Either way, the package will have been delivered.

Other notifications on the USPS online tracking system

These are the most common ones:

1. Package acceptance pending

Getting this notice is an indication that the post office has received the package, but that it’s waiting to be put into the system. What’s happened is that a seller has taken a large number of packages to the post office at the same time, and while they’ve put a separate shipping label on each individual piece, they’ve presented the postal worker with a single itemized sheet. It’s a way to speed things up at the post office. It’s that single sheet that gets scanned. The post office knows it has all the packages, but it hasn’t yet scanned them individually. When the packages are individually scanned, the online notification will change from “acceptance pending” to “accepted.”

2. USPS awaiting item

As this term indicates, it means the postal service hasn’t received the package, or hasn’t actually put it in their system yet. The postal service “knows” it’s going to be getting it because of a tracking number on the shipping label. This tracking number shows up in the USPS system the minute the seller generates the shipping label. So, until the seller drops the package off at the post office, “awaiting item” means just that.

3. In transit

When this is the message, the package is going through the postal service system and is safely on its way.

4. Out for delivery

This is the good one. It means that the package is on the mail truck and is scheduled to be dropped off. Most likely, that will be at the regular time the mail is delivered.

5. Status not available

A message like this on the tracking page could indicate that USPS is having some technical problem, or it may just mean that the system is not updating. On the other hand, it could be a sign that the package has been lost or damaged.

What to do when your customers receive the awaiting delivery scan notice?

Having a notice like this on the tracking page won’t show the seller in a good light. In a way, it looks like the seller is sloppy and doesn’t care much about getting the package delivered on time. That’s negative PR that could make a customer lose confidence.Fortunately, there are ways for the seller to overcome the delivery hitch and come out looking good.

Good communication is a good start. Personal emails that keep customers abreast of the shipping situation are not only reassuring, they tell customers that you care.

Another way is by having a top-notch inventory and order management software, one that helps you get your products out and delivered quickly and efficiently. Being able to stay on top of logistics through a system like this is really important for good customer relations

If you’re in the market for a good order management system, you might want to take a look at Cin7. Cloud-based, it will streamline your entire fulfillment process and leave your customers feeling like they’ve been treated well. Part of that comes from our third-party logistics feature, which puts you in touch with these service providers when you’re looking for a faster way to deliver your goods.

Call one of our experts today, and book a demo.

Want to help your clients weather a recession? Prepare for growth

Posted on November 7, 2022 | by chrisqureshi | Leave a Comment

Help customers recession-proof their business with a complete business system

All over the world, product sellers are worried that a recession is lurking just around the corner. And even without that fear, there’s no denying that times have got harder for many. Inflation is soaring, consumers are cutting back on spending, and supply chain crises continue to rock the globe.

How can you help your clients prepare for this uncertain future, while ensuring that your own business thrives? Ironically, the best way might be by equipping them with the same tools and mindset that you’d offer in more prosperous times.

“We’re living in a very dynamic world right now, where you’ve seen a huge shift from maybe typically retail-based businesses or wholesale-based businesses moving into the online sphere,” says Adam Wakeman, Cin7 Expert and Director of Halkin Business Partners. “And doing that on an old legacy ERP can potentially be a nightmare, but when you’ve got a flexible and agile IMS solution, it helps facilitate that change in quite a quick way. And we’ve seen some of those traditional businesses really benefit from that.”

Give us 15 minutes

We want to accelerate you towards your business goals and check every box on your inventory client’s wishlist

Your clients need a business system

We’ve talked to many different Cin7 customers and partners over the years, and one of the best things we’ve heard a customer call our software is a “business system.”

“Cin7 is a business system — it’s how we do business,” says Mindy Chisholm, founder of Australian jewelry brand Zafino. She credits Cin7 with powering an ecosystem that’s enabled their business to grow and thrive across multiple channels, and their Cin7 Expert partner SMB Consultants with implementing their software stack, and making sure that their business system continues to evolve with their needs.

“Businesses are starting to explore what off the shelf turnkey systems can do in terms of providing the same functionality as a legacy ERP, but then don’t have the burden of the big cost commitment and long delivery times to complete bespoke work,” says SMB Consultants founder Jeff Atizado.

This is exactly what Mindy means by a “business system.” Putting the right inventory management software at the core means other components — eCommerce like Shopify or WooCommerce, accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks Online, or fulfilment software like ShipStation — can be added when and if your client requires. “I think the biggest gain for most companies is consolidating their business into a system that can manage all of these different sales channels and fulfillment locations to give them a central point of truth,” Jeff adds.

A business system lets clients stay on top of costs and supply chains

In uncertain times, having a business system conveys a huge advantage. Systems that are typically used as growth engines also work as time and money-savers. The cost of a business system founded on Cin7 is typically much less than a legacy ERP, and the fact that its components are typically paid by subscription means that if a given component isn’t working, the client can (with your help!) simply turn it off, downgrade, or switch to a better one. This simply isn’t possible with a legacy ERP, which are highly inflexible. If one component is failing your client, they have to look at scrapping the whole thing — a huge waste of time and money.

“Some small businesses might say ‘Oh, it’s a lot of money to be spending on systems,’ but I keep adding more in,” Mindy says. She reckons that a business system with Cin7 at the core is well worth the cost. Typically, Cin7 does the work of several back-office employees. It gives your client choices — they can (as many Cin7 clients have!) give their existing people better-paying, more productive work in sales, marketing, or the like, or they may never have to hire in the first place!

Quantify the costs and benefits for more trust and happier clients

You’re uniquely qualified to help your clients make the right decision for their business by investing in a powerful business system. A powerful way to demonstrate the value of both a business system and the work that you do is to quantify the effect the system will have on your clients. It works for both existing clients and new ones. For new clients, you can work to understand the costs of their existing system — in terms of time and money — and use the experiences of your current clients to make estimates on savings. For existing clients, you can work out how much your services have saved them, or how much growth you’ve enabled since you started working together.

There are multiple ways to approach this quantification, and they all help foster a good working relationship with your clients. While it’s easy to quantify direct savings, such as not spending money on an expensive legacy ERP, other factors can be quantified too. Ask your clients: what would be their target for time saved, with the new system? And how much would that time be worth to them? What would it be worth to know exactly where their product was in the production cycles, or where it was in warehouses, or to know exactly where it was on its way to the customer, or on its way to you from the factory?

“When I was looking for an inventory management solution, I needed a good IT product that suited what we did and was great value for money,” says Cin7 customer Jennifer Xidias, of fashion brand Peta+Jain. “Cin7 is that product. It has seriously saved us about $130,000 this year alone, through not having to employ extra warehouse and admin staff. And when it comes to time, it saves hours every day not having to key in the data manually or create spreadsheets to import.”

When clients understand how much money a business system can (or is!) saving them, it’s a huge demonstration of both Cin7’s value, and yours, and an incredible showcase for how you can help them prepare for the bad times that might be around the corner — and the good times that might be coming right after that.

A quick and easy guide to good retail management

Posted on November 7, 2022 | by chrisqureshi | Leave a Comment

When shoppers find exactly what they’re looking for in a store, they leave happy. And when they leave happy, the store management is happy because the chances are those customers will come back again, or better yet, give a good recommendation to one of their friends.

It takes a lot of work and planning to get to this point, of course. The store has to have the right look and be open and inviting, and merchandise has to be displayed appealingly. The inventory also has to be managed well. This means having enough of an item in stock to be able to replace it quickly in the store when it’s sold – because it looks better if everything is well-stocked – and having enough of it in storage to be able to do this. This means ordering more, knowing when to do this, and doing it early enough to cover lead times – the length of time it’ll take a supplier to turn purchase orders around. The umbrella term for all these activities is retail management. In this blog, we’re going to break down the areas that make up retail management and look at them in detail.

Understanding the importance of retail management

The word retailer comes from the Old French retaillour or retailleor, and it translates as someone who sells items in small quantities. This interpretation pretty much stands today: store owners stock goods in limited amounts, and their customers usually buy items in ones and twos.

You may be wondering why we’re going into etymology. Well, it’s to give an understanding of the scope of the businesses we’re talking about. And when you get your mind around that, we can delve into the challenges and decisions that are specific to retail stores.

The central challenge of a retailer is to give their customers a good experience, to let them know they’re welcome, understood, and appreciated. It’s how you get them to come back. This experience runs from creating a look that reflects the interests of the shoppers to streamlining the checkout. For instance, a book store will have subtle color tones, be crammed with books, have quiet areas to check out reading material, and could be playing easy-listening classical music in the background. A shop selling clothing to young people, on the other hand, mayl use bright colors to decorate their interior, should have the right mood lighting, and may be playing Top-Ten music hits very loudly.

Differences aside, there are aspects that all retail establishments have in common. First among these is internal organization. When a customer walks into a store, they should very quickly be able to work out where everything is. In our bookstore example, the works will be categorized by genre, each one having its own section; and within that each book will be placed on a shelf alphabetically. In the clothing store, it’s garment type – jeans will be on one rack, coats on another – and to make everything even easier to find, each rack will have its clothing grouped by size.

The second thing all stores have in common is salespeople. There’s an art in choosing the right sales people, but more on that later.

The third characteristic shared by retail is the checkout. paying. Nowadays, there are several options for this: cash, card, or online via an app on a cell. It should be a smooth, simple process.

Taken together, all these facets add up to what’s called retail management, and when it’s done well, it’s good retail management.

The process of retail management

If you own or manage a retail store, you’re responsible for everything that goes into the running of it, from getting the right inventory to giving customers a good experience to handling employees. We’re going to break your job description down into its component areas and take a close look at each one.

#1 Planning

Like any endeavor, the first step in any retail enterprise is to plan it out. This covers everything from interior design and layout to choosing what goods to get from suppliers.

We’ve already covered design, so let’s get down to layout. As described in our examples, depending on the kind of items you’re selling, a potential customer has to feel comfortable in your space. If you’re selling tech, that means spacing out your devices and lighting them brightly to invite those entering your store to “play” with each one; if you have a thrift shop, you’ll want your items to be thrown together in batches to appeal to your customers’ bargain-hunting instincts. It’s all part of driving foot traffic to your establishment.

Irrespective of the kind of items you’re selling, you have to give careful consideration to where you place your checkout. You’ll want your shoppers to be able to see it easily, but you won’t want it to block the free flow of customers. For these reasons, it’s probably not a good idea to place it near the entrance. Similarly, if you run a clothing store, you shouldn’t put it near the changing rooms – that would not only block access, it could look like a brazen grab for a sale and put customers off.

Keeping the interior of the store clean and tidy is also important. It’s part of making your walk-ins feel they’re welcome.

Another major consideration when working out layout is shoplifting. Arranging items so that your employees can see as many of the areas as possible is a good way of preventing this. If shoplifting becomes a serious problem, however, surveillance cameras should be installed.

#2 Choosing suppliers

When you’ve worked out your layout, you need to get your products in. You’ll probably know what kind of store you’re opening when you sign a lease for the space, so buying comes down to finding suppliers and setting up accounts with them. Then it’s a matter of working out your markups, guesstimating returns, and researching your competition. Purchasing inventory is such a crucial part of store management.

When you’re looking around for suppliers, you should be checking out the following:

Their selling price – best to go with someone who offers the lowest price,
Whether they can deliver to your store,
Length of time it will take them to deliver items to you – their lead time – this has to be taken into account when reordering,
Their after-sales service,
Their return policy,
Terms of their invoices – specifically length of time they give you to pay, and
How much credit they’ll give you.

It’s a good idea to find several suppliers to work with. This way, if one doesn’t have what you want or can’t deliver, you have a fallback.

Then it’s a matter of working out your markups, guesstimating returns, and researching your competition.

#3 Receiving, storing, and displaying

First thing when a shipment comes in from a supplier is to check the goods against your purchase order and their invoice to make sure you’ve received everything you’re being charged for, and you should inspect each item for quality. If anything is damaged or incorrect, you send it back.

Next comes storage. If you have a small shop, this could be a back room; but if your business is larger, say something like a box store, you’re going to need a bigger space, a much bigger space, something that’s more like a warehouse.

When it comes to displaying items in your store, several matters should be taken into account. Things that are more likely to catch a customer’s eye should be right up front, near the entrance.If some of the things you sell are heavy, they should be on shelves that are near the floor, not on high levels; items that are similar should be grouped together; and small items that could be last-minute purchases, like socks or small packets of candy, should be next to the checkout.

The placement of any discounts you’re running is also important when trying to encourage sales. These should always be clearly labeled, preferable on their area of the shelving as well as individually on the product. Essentially, you’re building goodwill with your customers, and if an item they pick up—thinking it’s discounted—turns out not to be, they’re going to be upset. For some types of things, like clothing, however, it’s a good idea to have a dedicated area for all discounted items.

Of course, as a retailer selling in ones and twos, you’re probably going to be stocking a lot of different items in different colors and sizes. This makes keeping track of everything a challenge. Technology can come to the rescue here, technology like Cin7’s inventory management software. Cin7 tracks inventory in real-time, letting you know exactly what you have and how much of it you hold. It can also automate your purchase orders, registering when your stock is low enough to warrant reorder and taking care of it.

#4 Hiring and managing employees

This is important because a salesperson can make or break your retail business. Number one when checking out prospective hires is that they should like people. They have to have bright personalities and show a degree of patience. In short, they should enjoy interacting with customers, be happy to help them find what they want and be willing and able to answer any questions. Plus, they should be able to calmly listen to complaints and be willing to resolve issues. It also helps if they have knowledge of your business category. Thus, if you have a hardware store, you’ll want salespeople who know a lot about home improvement; if you have a beauty store, you’ll want salespeople who love and are up-to-date on things like make-up trends.

Your sales staff should also be adept at using your checkout, otherwise known as your point of sale system. Depending on the size of your store, you may have an employee dedicated to taking customer payments, so it’s important they be well-versed in whatever system you use.

And for you as a retail manager, once you’ve selected the right people to work for you, it’s your responsibility to keep a subtle eye on them to make sure they’re not taking advantage, and to resolve conflicts and grievances they may have. If your staff is content in the workplace, it’s reflected in the way your business performs.

#5 Service and sales

As indicated in the section directly above, your sales staff should be able to give your customers a gentle nudge when they’re undecided about whether to buy or not. That, essentially, is what a good sales person is defined by.

To make your customer experience complete, a smooth checkout is the cherry on the cake. While a point of sale (POS) can be defined as an old-time cash register, today much more sophisticated, online-based systems are the norm. In addition to adding up the cost of items, if several are purchased, these modern-day systems can scan barcodes and process different payment types, from cash to credit cards and cell-phone apps. They can also store your customer’s information – useful if there are returns or you want to send them marketing materials – and keep track of your inventory.

Cin7’s POS can do all this and more.

Optimize your retail operations with Cin7

To sum up, when a retail store is run well, customers have a good experience and walk out happy with the item they want, and your staff are content and put in that extra effort for you.

Then there’s control of your inventory, getting the right stock in and ensuring you have enough of it at all times to satisfy demand. That’s where Cin7 can be helpful. Cin7’s cloud-based software gives you a bird’s eye view of all your inventory, and can produce data to keep you on top of what items are selling best. Cin7 can also create loyalty programs and, as discussed, streamline your checkout.

If you want to learn more about Cin7 and how it can bring improvements to your retail business, call one of our experts today and book a demo.