No-one can handle the vast numbers of products available to almost all retailers.
Most the suppliers have large numbers of items on catalogue. They will also have many more if you require something special.
A typical client of ours would be selling actively over a year over 43,000 lines. That is a lot of work if you order once a week to handle it. Who can go over that many items? There is only so far gut feel and memory. Can take you.
A computer can but to get a computer to do it requires a central stock system that is up to date and updated. Once done this allows your stock to be managed better and meet your customer's expectations while reducing wasting money with overstocking
This is why we recommend that you consider switching to a computer ordering system, e.g. focus that can quite cheaply and fast do the ordering. One point you will find is that the computer system works well in the model of smaller order and frequent buying.
What the computer does is looking at your history of sales, it then makes an ideal stock quantity for today that it thinks you will require (focus).
It then compares this figure to what the actual stock on hand figure you have, it then adds some safety stock and then issues a stock order with almost no work to you to the supplier depending on the suppliers' requirements.
This reduces your holding costs, as you are not holding that much in stock.
It also
- Lower labour charges - as its computer time, not your buyers time.
- Lower ordering costs - as you are buying to the suppliers' terms
- Improved selling rates - as you are now ordering what you need.
- Decreased out of stock - as the computer is checking continuously
- Overstock wastes - in practice a computer works out the required stock better than a person
- Improved stock accuracy - you know what you have
- Higher customer satisfaction - you have fewer stock-outs
You will save a lot of time.
