The pandemic caused significant disruptions in the supply chain management of e-commerce businesses. It shed light on the importance of a robust supply chain and inventory management. Efficient inventory management is the essence of a successful e-commerce business. It is vital to have your back-end e-commerce processes in place for a good front-end experience.
Rising competition in the e-commerce industry has led businesses to adopt and embrace advanced technologies to sustain and thrive in the market. So here’s exactly where the need for inventory management software arises.
Top Challenges & Solutions of Inventory Management –
While there are many problems faced in inventory management, here are the top challenges and solutions to overcome them.
Poor inventory visibility
This is one of the biggest challenges in inventory management. As a business, you need to know the real-time status of stocks in your inventory. No matter where the goods are, you must keep a keen track of them. Poor inventory monitoring leads to delays in shipping and delivery of stocks, unnecessary shipping costs, and a lack of inventory balance.
How can you solve it?
Real-time inventory management system
This tells you exactly where your goods are. Additionally, it will also give your closer insights into the availability of stocks at that moment.
Increasing dependence on manual inventory processes
Tracking your inventory with basic manual procedures results in errors in managing goods, unavailability or excess ordering of goods, etc. This is because inventory processes are continuous, and their manual handling leads to unsatisfactory results.
How can you solve it?
Invest in cutting-edge technology solutions
Digitize overall inventory management, warehouse management, multi-channel order management, etc. Using software will make it easier to track, report about availability, or warranty information of the goods. Therefore, implementing an IoT-based inventory management system will improve your efficiency.
Recognizing and tracking obsolete products
It is common for some products to become obsolete after their demand significantly drops. As a result, these goods are often left abandoned in the warehouses and forgotten when their need arises. At such times, inventory managers order new products that leave the old stock unutilized, resulting in a loss.
How can you solve it?
Stock control systems
This is useful in hunting the dead inventory and using them when required.
Understanding demand and volatility
Demand for goods can be uncertain and depends on numerous factors like season, geographic location, and market trends. A live example would be the pandemic due to which the demand and consumer behavior towards products were volatile. Additionally, market trends also vary. This can lead to a shortage of goods when the demand rises or excess stock when the demand is low.
How can you solve it?
Demand planning and forecasting software
This software enables high-performance demand planning and forecasting. It offers real-time data with AI technology to precisely predict demand and allows enhanced forecasting.
Conclusion
With rising competition in the e-commerce industry, it is essential to have all your e-commerce back-end automation aspects in place. Rather than hunting for each service individually, it is wise to implement a platform that fulfills all your e-commerce automation needs in one place.
Unicommerce offers a wide range of e-commerce solutions like Warehouse Management System, Inventory Management System, Multichannel Order Management Solutions, Full-stack D2C e-commerce platform, and Omnichannel Retail Solutions. Unicommerce offers simplified solutions for e-commerce inventory management and ensures the top-notch performance of your business by empowering you to overcome inventory management challenges.
Also Read:
- Why do e-commerce businesses need Inventory Management Software?
- How to choose the Best Inventory Management System for your Business?
- Best Inventory Management Techniques To Scale Your Business
- Why is Inventory Management important for your E-commerce business
- How can you Streamline Inventory Management using Barcode Scanning?