Cleverly check and optimize store inventories with the store stock analysis
In times of the Internet, where competition is probably greater than ever before, it is important to offer and find the right solution in one's niche. Whether B2C or B2B, those in retail, wholesale or other forms of sales who fail to adapt their product portfolio can quickly be squeezed out of the market. Only a few suppliers manage to serve their own market segment with just a few niche products. Often, it is necessary to take the broad approach.
And that's where larger inventories come in, which have to be handled appropriately. An important step in this process is the analysis of slow-moving items - this means that a targeted search is made for slow-moving items in order to optimize them further. This is important for a number of reasons, as store-bought items most often bring problems with them, which include the following:
- Capital in the company is tied up in the store stocks and means reduced cash flow
- Logistically, too, certain store items can become a problem, as a lot of space is simply not used optimally, resulting in further costs
- Further optimizations are missing and also in retail stores it can become problematic, because old products have to be displayed
We would therefore like to take a closer look at the important step of the analysis of store stock and, in doing so, we would also like to focus our attention on the concrete options available for carrying out the corresponding steps.
Definition of store stock analysis: an important step towards more optimization
Since the terminology of the shopkeepers is so widely known, the shopkeeper analysis is also not a complex word, which is difficult to understand for laymen. Rather, this is a form of stock analysis or inventory that proceeds in a very targeted manner. Thus, this can be done as part of larger inventories or as a separate step to find the key store items.
By the way: Strictly speaking, the analysis of slow-moving items does not only describe whether there are goods issues, but also goods receipts of certain products, as these also play an important role in the analysis of inventories.
Shopfloor Analysis in Practice: Already Embedded in Digitization
A store analysis must also be worthwhile. If you waste days and weeks doing the analysis, literally searching for each stock item one by one, you won't get far. Rather, it is therefore crucial that a targeted approach is taken in this regard. Appropriate IT systems can be used to map digitized merchandise systems, so that all steps of the analysis of slow-moving goods can be carried out practically in seconds.
A wide variety of information can then be extracted, which may include how many products are considered slow-moving items and how long they have been in storage, to name just two examples.
The individual definition of important categories is important in the store analysis
As already indicated, the store analysis is something that is individually sometimes based on different premises. In this context, it is not possible to make a blanket statement that all products that have not brought a flow of goods for more than a year, for example, are unusable. Aspects such as the Corona pandemic in particular, but even the change in terms of social awareness towards certain products may play a role. Therefore, it is always necessary to define which parameters are important for a product to be defined as a slow-moving item before querying this transaction data.
Various steps can be derived from the result
After the store stock analysis, it is necessary to decide what the next steps are in order to clear the stocks, if necessary. Here, there are many options from further storage to scrapping of the products. So it is also possible that quantities are only reduced, special promotions are started, prices are lowered or new markets are sought. Here, too, however, it is crucial that the correct data are named and benchmarks defined in advance.
