Managing Inventory Online and Instore

As a business owner, inventory management is one of the tasks that drives the largest success of your store. With many moving pieces, inventory management is a full-time job, especially considering that many businesses now offer linked online and in store inventory. By utilizing a powerful Point of Sale (POS) system and carefully tracking data, it is possible to efficiently take all of the pieces of your inventory and leverage them into your most powerful sales tool.

 1. POS Inventory Management

As you know, POS systems help you take your in store business online by creating an omnichannel commerce experience (LINK TO BLOG) for consumers. However, the functionality of a strong POS doesn’t end there.

Purchasing inventory isn’t as simple as selecting new products for a store and buying them. For a store to be truly successful, it is necessary to understand what products are working in a store, what products are creating waste, customer purchasing habits, and more. A POS system can provide the tools you need to easily manage your inventory both in store, online and everywhere in between- inventory management systems within a POS not only help bridge the gap between in store and online commerce, they also aid with every nuance of inventory management.

2. Taking Stock of Your Inventory

A POS system with inventory management provides business owners with real-time information about the state of their inventory.  Whether a consumer purchases products in store, online, or through another sales channel, a POS system can automatically update to demonstrate the inventory. This creates a smooth life cycle for purchasers, no matter what channel they’re using.

The POS system can act as an additional employee within your store, helping manage your inventory based on data and research (not on guesses), consumers will be pleased with consistent functionality no matter where they’re shopping, and business owners won’t have to worry about coming up short on stock.

3. Purchasing Popular Inventory

POS systems don’t only manage the inventory, they also collect data on popular consumer trends and purchasing timelines. This allows savvy business owners to understand when to re-purchase inventory and can even help them to understand when to promote certain inventory. POS inventory management systems help business owners understand not only what products are being purchased but also by which customers, which can help owners understand what will need to be purchased more and what will need to be purchased less. This functionality can even help business owners keep their inventory fresh, their processes efficient, and their customers happy.

4. Timely Inventory Purchases

With the use of data from a POS, business owners not only understand what inventory is popular, they can also understand when to buy it. This functionality allows business owners to automate their purchasing, allowing them to schedule purchasing and delivery for months down the road. Whether there’s a new trend, or owners are ordering something for a specific season, they can always be prepared with necessary stock.

While inventory management can be done manually or through a standalone inventory system, it is difficult for these options to keep up with the pace of omnichannel commerce. For a company to be truly successful in the current digital age, it is important for business owners to manage their online and in store inventory from one integrated point, allowing them a broad overview of activity within their store.

Does your current POS offer you effective inventory management tools? Marketing 360 Payments can help. If you are ready to talk with a Marketing 360 Payments representative about the right POS choice for your business, contact us today.

Want more amazing information like this in your inbox? Subscribe to the Marketing 360 Payments blog.