Posts Tagged ‘inventory management’
Good Inventory Management Mean More Money!
Thursday, December 20th, 2007
For an online retailer, having tight control on inventory is absolutely crucial to running a good business. Out of stock merchandise means lost business. Having your inventory managed automatically means you’ll never be surprised that you’re “all of a sudden” out of stock of a particular item.
However, a good inventory program will do more for you than just keep track of stock. Today’s inventory tracking software has the capability of analyzing sales data so you can watch for any ordering patterns. This comes in handy if you are testing marketing or advertising campaigns. You’ll be able to easily compare sales from before the campaign to after the campaign. Having such detailed sales data will also give you insight as to what products are fast-sellers and which ones are just collecting dust and need to be discontinued.
Being able to see your sales in an easily manageable format makes it easy to see the “cause and effect” factor for things like sales, coupon codes, and advertisements. If put to good use, an inventory management system can both save money (in inventory control) and make money (by seeing what advertising works)!
Inventory management software programs are simple to understand and operate; some programs even allow you to add pictures and descriptions of each item to make them easy to find and recognize. You’ll always know when inventory gets low because the program alerts you when your stock gets below a certain level.
Having an inventory control system in place saves you time, worries and money - and every online retailer should have one. And why not - they’re inexpensive, easy to install and there are so many programs to choose from, you’re bound to find the right one for your company. Most of the software programs offer a free trial (usually 10-30 days) so you can test it out and see if it’s right for your company. And, if it’s not then you can get a full refund.
There are literally hundreds of great inventory software programs on the market and, for small businesses, they’re all fairly similar. However, here are a few recommendations for you to get started in your search:
Small Business Inventory Control
Website: http://www.rytechsoftware.com
Cost: $99 and up
Free Trial: Yes
iMagic Inventory
Website: http://www.imagicinventorysoftware.com
Cost: $199
Free Trial: Yes
AdvancePro
Website: http://www.advanceware.net
Cost: $499 and up
Free Trial: Yes
Typically, the more expensive the program, the more features you get in return. The programs listed above are all for small to medium-sized businesses. For large warehouses, the pricing can easily get up to $25,000 for an inventory control program - so, in comparison, a few hundred dollars for a good program is a steal! The money you pay for a good inventory control program can easily be earned back (and then some) within just a few months. That is, as long as you’re willing to set the program up and use its tools!
Tags: advanceware.net, Carrie Hinkel, imagicinventorysoftware.com, inventory, inventory management, rytechsoftware.com, small business tools, software
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Choosing the Right Turnkey E-commerce Solution
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
If you plan to start an online store, or if your website is not currently enabled for e-commerce, you may be looking at the choices available to you. To start your own online store, there’s a laundry list of necessities to consider - hosting, shopping cart technology, inventory management, credit card processing…the list goes on. You can either find several different companies to handle each part, or you can consider a turnkey e-commerce solution. Turnkey e-commerce packages include all aspects of setting up and maintaining an online store, all from just one company.
Whatever your current situation, you need to make sure that the turnkey e-commerce solution you’re either using or considering is right, both for you and your business. But with so many options to choose from, how do you know which one to go for?
Look for the Benefits
With the number of companies offering turnkey solutions out there, the best thing to do is to look at what’s available and choose the package that fits your needs and, most importantly, those of your customers. Since an effective turnkey e-commerce package can result in lower overheads, you can pass these savings on to your customers if you wish, ensuring more sales and repeat business.
Before shopping around for an e-commerce package, take a look at some other sites that sell what you plan to sell and make a list of specific features you would like to have on your site. Also make a list of all the back-end, administrative features you would like so you know exactly what to look for when researching your options.
Set-up and Administration
Since you’ll want to obviously concentrate on making your business as successful as possible, the last thing you’ll want to do is to have to constantly look after all the administrative aspects of your site. This is where a turnkey e-commerce solution is so useful, as your provider should offer a package that sets everything up, including credit card processing, layout and design of your online store, and back-end administration.
Shopping Cart and Shipping
Any e-commerce package should offer shopping cart technology as standard. When considering packages, ask for a demo so you can see how easily your customers will be able to add items to their cart, continue shopping, and checkout. As well as a shopping cart, a good e-commerce solution should have a feature that allows you to enter the shipping methods you plan to offer, and then calculates the shipping costs automatically for your customers.
Credit Card Processing
Since credit cards are the most popular method of online buying, you need to make sure the e-commerce package you’re considering includes credit card processing (via a secure server). Additionally, the option for PayPal and similar methods should be standard (or an easily added option) as well.
Security of the Package
A good software company will have an SSL certificate, which means that they support Secure Sockets Layer. This is an industry standard for encrypting credit card details and other personal information. You should also make sure they offer firewall protection, to minimize and risk of viruses or hacking.
Design and Layout
What makes turnkey e-commerce packages so easy to use is the fact that most (if not all) include design templates, so all you have to do is select a color scheme and upload your logo and content. Layout is extremely important, since how your site is laid out can mean the difference between a sale and an abandoned shopping cart. When shopping for a package, make sure you ask to test out or demo one of the company’s existing sites so you can see how navigable their sites are. Also make sure to ask how customizable the sites are - if you want to change anything to make your site easier for your customers to use, how easy will that be?
Inventory Management
A good product or inventory management module will allow you easily add, edit, or remove products from your store, as well as see your current inventory levels at a glance so you know what to order. Ask what kind of product and inventory management features are included in your package, and make sure they’ll meet your needs so you can stay proactive with your inventory.
Customer Relation Management (CRM)
Just as important as the sale itself is analyzing what triggered that purchase in the first place. With a dedicated CRM in place as part of your e-commerce package, you can see buying trends, allow order details to be held in memory for faster access, and let your customers track their orders. This simple functionality can mean all the difference to a customer, and make sure they come back to you, as well as recommend your services.
Although your e-commerce package choices are staggering, all it comes down to are your needs as the business owner and the needs of your customers. By listing everything that you want in an e-commerce package and then thoroughly researching your options, you can build an online store that benefits both.
Tags: CRM, customer relation management, danny brown, E-Commerce and E-Business, inventory management, turnkey, turnkey ecommerce package
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Managing Inventory for Your Online Store
Wednesday, September 5th, 2007
What are the available options for managing your online inventory? It really depends on the size of your business and what method works best for you.
Essentially, there are three major ways that online businesses handle inventory.
Online management. This means every purchase that is made through your website is directly applied to your online product catalog through a web interface. You will have to go online to add more products, write new product descriptions, make changes to price, and upload images of the products. Everything will be handled online as it relates to your products and inventory.
This is a popular method because it offers a lot of flexibility in that you can add many features to your store quickly and easily. At the same time, this method does have a few disadvantages. It can take a lot of time to implement everything online, especially if you have a lot of products to deal with.
Offline management. Although you’re running on online business, you can choose to handle inventory mostly offline. This involves making price changes, adding new products, and managing inventory offline and offsite. You will probably use software in your home office or warehouse to carry out such tasks. You can purchase or have someone design custom software for offline product management, which works by loading information on a daily basis into your online store. This ensures that everything is kept up to date even though you’re handling inventory offline.
You may not be given as much versatility with this option, but it makes inventory management much easier if you have a large selection of products. You’ll be able to keep online product information up to date without as much trouble, although because you are running an online store, you will have to carry out some inventory tasks online.
Online/Offline Combination. This is a great option for most online business owners, simply because you get the best of both worlds. Online tools are available for adding, changing, and deleting products, but you are given the opportunity to do all the updates straight from your accounting package so that you can quickly and easily keep up with the competition.
The only disadvantage of this method is that you have to keep track of your product catalog in two locations. One copy of the information will be stored offline, while another copy will be located online. At certain times, the online information may differ slightly from what you have on record offline. If you decide to use both an online and offline system, be sure to implement some rules to keep track of everything.
This option is also more costly, because more functionality has to be built into the software to be able to handle the extra options. In the end, you should select the method that works best for your business. The main goal is to ensure the growth and financial success of your business, and lower your costs while giving you more free time to handle the daily tasks of your business.
Tags: E-Commerce and E-Business, inventory management, management, online store
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