Inventory management systems are becoming a necessity due to the ever-growing complexity of inventory management. There are hundreds of processes involved in inventory management. They are related to purchases/sales to manage, stock to track, items to store, inventory levels to maintain, and much more.
It is feasible to handle inventory management tasks when your business size is small. However, it becomes unmanageable manually at a certain point and increases the risk of loss and errors. In 2023, inventory distortion due to overstocks and out-of-stocks was projected to cost retailers $1.77 trillion worldwide.
The best way to tackle simple to complex inventory management is by deploying software-based inventory management systems. Therefore, this article will discuss in detail the benefits of an inventory management system and also present the best system to consider in 2024. So, let’s get started!
Inventory Management System – A Quick Overview
An inventory management system is a software-based system that helps the retailer track inventory and sales. With an inventory management system, you get a centralized system to:
⦁ Get a holistic and real-time view of inventory levels
⦁ Track and transfer inventory across your warehouses
⦁ Organize the inventory proficiently
⦁ Track production and sales
⦁ Identify potential overstock or stockouts
⦁ Streamline order fulfillment processes
⦁ Improve customer satisfaction
⦁ Automate reordering alerts
⦁ And much more.
In short, an inventory management system eradicates most manual inventory-related processes and provides automated, software-based solutions.
8 Benefits of Inventory Management Systems
Inventory management systems bring many benefits to the table that retailers need to save time and cost and remain competitive in today’s digital era. Below, we have shortlisted the eight top-notch benefits you can get with the inventory management system in 2024:
1. Improved Efficiency
The inventory management system keeps track of all the products that enter and leave the warehouse during production, storage, and sales. It can integrate with point-of-sale systems to automate the process of payments and sales. Simply put, it helps you improve inventory management efficiency by optimizing the way you track products and fill orders.
2. Reduced Costs
The second and one of the most dominant benefits of the inventory management system is cost reduction. Some of the major costs it can save include:
⦁ Avoid overstocking to lower carrying costs and save storage space.
⦁ Reduce stockouts to avoid losing sales or dealing with unhappy customers.
⦁ Automated order fulfillment to lower order-related errors and associated costs.
⦁ Reduce labor costs due to efficient handling of inventory.
⦁ Lower transportation costs due to efficient to and from movements from warehouses.
According to research, reducing overstocks and stockouts can lower inventory costs by 10%. Therefore, the inventory management system is the key to bringing down inventory costs significantly.
3. Better Decision-Making
The inventory management system provides a centralized view of all the inventory-related activities. You are able to view inventory levels, purchases, sales, and other important metrics in real time. This helps you make the right decisions about your business. For instance, if a particular product is not performing well in sales, you can terminate it. In short, inventory management software helps you organize and drive your business to success.
4. Enhanced Automation
Today’s inventory management systems are designed to automate most of the manual activities. For example, they can automatically monitor inventory levels, reorder products, generate purchase orders, or even integrate with barcode scanners for the right stock counting.
With automation, your business will deal with fewer inventory-related errors, reduce unnecessary labor costs, and have accurate stock management. So, the enhanced automation gradually makes the whole inventory management process well-structured and efficient.
5. Improved Customer Experience
The use of an inventory management system is directly linked with improved customer experience. You become able to fulfill customers’ orders accurately and quickly, which increases customer satisfaction. Moreover, there are reduced stockouts and increased product availability. This increases customer loyalty and trust, which helps you increase sales through word-of-mouth marketing.
6. Effective Organization
Another leading benefit of the inventory management system is that it provides an effective organization of all inventory-related matters. You can effectively categorize products by name, size, shape, and other parameters. Once the inventory is well-organized, it becomes a lot more efficient and rapid to fulfill orders and keep track of the whole inventory.
7. Better Coordination Between Locations
If you have inventory located in multiple warehouses, the inventory management system provides effective coordination between those locations. For instance, if a particular product is low on stock in one warehouse, the inventory management system can help find the other warehouses where the product is present. Afterward, the employee can place the order from the system to transport them. This way, enhanced coordination between warehouses will lower costs and uplift the sales process.
Secondly, the inventory management system can also assist in managing inventory in a big warehouse. It can help to organize inventory in different locations or shelves in a warehouse. This makes the inventory management process more efficient, increases productivity, and saves up significant time.
8. Enhanced Productivity
Inventory management systems also increase productivity, as more gets done in less time. It saves significant time spent in processing, auditing, and tracking stock. Employees get an organized way to handle inventory activities, which reduces many hours of manual work. The time saved this way can be utilized for other activities.
C2W Technology – The Cutting-Edge Inventory Management System
Now that you know the benefits of an inventory management system, the next thing is to pick the right system from dozens of available options. Your main target should be to pick the inventory management system that offers an intuitive interface, a wide range of features to tackle all inventory-related activities, and cost-effective plans. This is exactly what you get with C2W Technology.
C2W Technology offers the most comprehensive and centralized inventory management system, no matter your business/inventory size. Our inventory management software is a feature-rich and user-friendly tool that requires no training. It offers a unified interface to view/manage stock in real-time, automate reordering, and have optimized management.
The key features of our inventory management software are as follows:
Real-time Inventory Visibility
- Real-time visibility of inventory levels
- Monitor inventory movement
- Get alerts of stockouts or overstock
Multi-Warehouse Management
- Clear view of stock
- Centralized system to track and transfer inventory across multiple warehouses
- Effective management of inventory in different locations or shelves in one large warehouse
Order Fulfillment Workflow
- Streamlined order fulfillment processes
- Reduced order processing times
- Improved customer satisfaction
Inventory Optimization
- Instant access to inventory data
- Automated reordering
- Alerts of stockouts or overstock
Order Fulfillment Solutions
- Automated order processing
- Enhanced order-picking efficiency
- Instant update on order progress
Strategic Decision-Making
- Detailed reports on inventory performance
- Actionable order insights
- Data-driven analysis
- Insightful stock movement history
In short, C2W offers an all-in-one inventory management system to handle all the stages of inventory management effectively. On top of that, C2W can also integrate with your business tools and platforms, like Shopify, EasyPost, Shippo, and much more.
Overall, if you want to be part of the companies that improve productivity, space usage, and stock efficiency through the inventory management system, then C2W software is your ultimate companion.
To learn more, get in touch with us right now.
