#live inventory

My last blog series focused on many of the reasons that an online company store should be in your business plan.   In the next series of posts I’ll be focusing on the building blocks of great online company stores – the things that set a great store apart from a store that just barely makes the grade.

The best online stores, whether retail or internal, have an inventory management component.  Having an active inventory management system will make your store outlets more effective, easier to manage, and help keep your costs low.  A major retailer recently learned this lesson the hard way, unable to fill hundreds of orders in the midst of the holiday shopping season due to inventory issues.  Whether large or small, your online company store can avoid this pitfall with robust inventory management systems.

Live inventory works for you – stock related missteps, like out of control backorders, disappear when you know what your inventory levels are in real time. A great store is one that gives you the option to choose how to use the live inventory system.  You should be able to choose what works best for your store, your company, your business model. 

Perhaps the most obvious choice that should be available to you is whether your store will display inventory to shoppers. 

In my post “Reason #382: Your Sales Force Should be Selling,” displayed inventory numbers would be very helpful for a sales staff ordering promotional products for a large trade show. For example, your sales manager in Montana will know there are enough bags available for him to order 250.  Once he begins placing his order those bags are taken out of inventory. When your sales manager in Massachusetts visits the store, she can see that the 100 remaining bags will be available for her next event.

Most online retail outlets, however, do not display their inventory to shoppers (even if they have access to live inventory reporting).  If your store visitors require a retail style because they are an external constituency, you may prefer to keep inventory numbers invisible.

Two additional features that are really valuable in any live inventory system are backorder options and inventory email alerts.

• Backorders 

Allowing an item to be ordered when the stock is depleted can be a great tool.  For example in my “Reason #200” post it would be a great advantage to have a scenario where no item is ‘off the table’ for shoppers.  Your store administrator will be able to order new stock with plenty of time for a seamless feel to your constituents.  On the other hand, in the case of the sales force example I used earlier, you may want to stop orders from being placed once an item has depleted to zero. 

• Email alerts

Quite simply, rather than having to constantly check up on the status of your inventory by visiting your store or running lengthy reports, you should receive an email alert when stock dips to your re-order threshold. If your store solution doesn’t offer email alerts, it’s wasting your time.

The bottom line in inventory

You should have the power to hide or display inventory, allow backordering, and receive stock level email alerts. Our online company store solutions offer all of those features standard.

If your current inventory management system is not meeting your needs or if you are weighing options for your online company store, Sky High Marketing can help.  Best in class solutions are our specialty.

Call me right now or visit http://www.onlinecompanystore.net/quote.html for a quote today.

Josh Kozinski, President

Sky High Marketing