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The Importance of Inventory Management

  56. That is the number of shoes in my closet. Yep, 56 pairs of heels, boots, sandals, and wedges. This number does not include athletic shoes, flip flops, and the random pair of ice skates on the top shelf. I know, I know. I am a shoe girl – I have always been a shoe girl. I have all of my shoes organized by color and type so I can quickly find whatever I need and I am always evaluating the shoes I have on hand. I do a physical check to see which ones are worn and need retired and which ones are out of style for the current season. This also allows me to understand what I have and what I “need” when I am out shopping – nothing is worse than having two pairs of very similar, open-toed, black lace booties when I could have gone for the pink, patent leather stilettos! My system works for me, but I am only managing 56 pairs of shoes and I don’t make or lose money based on what is in my closet. I cannot even begin to imagine what it would be like to be a retailer managing more inventory than that. But many of you out there can. You manage hundreds and thousands of SKUs that come in and out of your store on a regular basis. You have to manage the inventory coming in from suppliers, what may be transferred to another store or sold online, and what goes out of your store in sales. You need to work hard to manage your inventory so you can make money to maintain and grow your business. On average, almost 25% of your inventory costs could be eliminated or reduced by rethinking your inventory management strategy. That means more money to invest in high performing inventory and more money to the bottom line. RICS’ exclusive e-book can give you many useful tips and strategies to help you: Click here to access our e-book and learn more about managing your inventory more efficiently. In the meantime, I have shoes to to assess!