Every year, retail businesses in the U.S. lose an estimated $42 billion in lost inventory. The culprits tend to be simple administrative errors that happen in the process from manufacturing to sale, employee theft, and shoplifting. Surprisingly, shoplifting is just $10 billion of this number which means there is still quite a bit of opportunity for you to impact your numbers through in-store processes.

A point of sale system that has effective inventory management apps is a great place to start. Lightspeed, for example, is a POS system that will centralize all your purchasing which means less risk of making a mistake. From the moment you submit an order to the moment it is sold in your store you’ll have an accurate picture of inventory to cross check against manual counts you make in the store.

Not only does this make cross-checking inventory easier, it sends a message to employees that you are on top of things and are specifically using the system to prevent loss. This goes a long way in deterring employee theft in the first place. When employee theft happens, as it inevitably will, a POS system can help you determine the source. By looking at patterns related to shift days and times or seeing that a particular cash register is off more than the others will lead you to the culprit.

Administrative errors also account for a big chunk of losses. Creating one purchase order that include multiple vendors keeps things much simpler and automating those orders when inventory gets low ensures that repeat orders are accurate. If you are currently doing your purchasing manually you should see a boost in accuracy with that will save you hours of tracking down losses.

The team at Marketing 360 Payments can help you understand how to use apps that will make your inventory management as seamless as possible. We are here to help your business grow richer. Schedule an appointment today or call your current customer service representative to get started.