Can Better Inventory Management Really Reduce Your Cost of Doing Business?

eCommerce businesses that efficiently manage inventory are destined to succeed. As inflation continued to rise and weigh on consumer demand this year, many suppliers and retailers over-purchased right as supply chain bottlenecks lessened and have left many with massive amounts of inventory for this holiday season.

According to Deloitte, in spite of the economic downturn this year, holiday eCommerce sales are projected to grow from 12.8% to 14.8%. As retailers continue to increase prices to keep up with inflation, savvy price-conscious shoppers will seek online deals to maximize their spending.

So how can solid inventory management practices reduce your cost of doing business this holiday season?

What is Inventory Management?

One of the most critical components of an eCommerce business is its inventory. It is what you sell to customers to make profits, it is also prone to theft and damage in a warehouse or on route to customers, and too much or too little inventory results in loss of sales and potentially damaging your trust and reputation with retailers.

Inventory management is critical because errors are costly and time is money. Shipping incorrect products, shipping to incorrect addresses, overstating inventory and needing to refund are all costly errors that add up quickly with manual processes in place.

However, automation simplifies and reduces costly errors in ordering, stores and optimizes product for the many online retailers, and allows you to sell additional products with little to no change in your team.

Bottom line – efficient inventory management processes reduce the number of costly errors and ensure you are able to fulfill incoming or open orders to increase profits.

Benefits to Inventory Management with OPAL?

Volume & Speed:
Automation drives labor costs down and increases capacity to fulfill new orders immediately, without the hassle of hiring and training new staff. Daily shipments increase by up to 50% because your team can pick, pack and ship much more efficiently than manually.

With OPAL, your team can generate drop ship orders in only 8 seconds – then pick, pack and ship this hectic holiday season.

Accuracy:
Automation improves order accuracy up to 99% because the manual errors are no longer missing stockouts, or shipping to incorrect addresses, or shipping incorrect products.

Real-Time Data for Purchasing Decisions:
Accurately representing inventory across multiple sales channels prevents overselling and underselling of products. It also allows for your team to have an understanding of which products are moving quickly and which ones are lingering on the shelves to make better ordering, pricing and sales or incentive decisions.

Eliminate EDI:
One of the biggest benefits to a software solution is eliminating EDI charges, especially since they have grown exorbitantly over the past year as shipping to individual consumers has skyrocketed.

With OPAL, EDI is 100% included no matter how many orders you fulfill, allowing you to reduce your price per order drastically in comparison to manual processes. To learn more about the evolution of EDI, visit our blog here.

Simplify with OPAL’s 4-in-1 Software Solution
EDI | Order Management | Warehouse Management | Shipping

OPAL is the innovative solution to simplify your small to mid-sized to enterprise business fulfillment needs in today’s rapidly transforming retail world.

As your business looks to improve its processes, click here to learn more about how OPAL can streamline your business to efficiently maneuver this season.

Click here to book your customized demo today.  We are here to support you through this time of change and are here to help you innovate and thrive!