How Does ShipBob’s Inventory Report Improve Your Business Performance?

Inventory management is critical in eCommerce. With the proper management system in place, store owners can ensure that they have a sufficient stock of products to meet demand.

When business owners do not understand how to analyse inventory, they risk losing money on sales that cannot be fulfilled due to stock-outs or wasting money on excessive inventory storage. Business owners must maintain a steady supply of products without tying up cash in massive amounts of inventory.

In order to do this, you’ll need accurate numbers to determine when it’s time to reorder and how much to order. Inventory and sales patterns can even assist you in forecasting future demand, allowing you to budget appropriately and launch promotions as needed. All of this information is derived from using the appropriate inventory management system, such as ShipBob, and regularly evaluating it. See what else ShipBob can provide for your inventory report in this article.

What Is The Purpose Of An Inventory Report?

A stock report is a summary of a retailer’s current inventory. It distils information about your inventory’s status and performance, such as how much stock you have, which products sell the fastest, category performance, and other metrics. There are numerous inventory reports available, each with its purpose. For medium to large-sized businesses that operate a chain of stores, POS reports are critical. Because it requires their report system to connect all in-store data to other sales channels and to accurately display the data at the point of sale in real-time.

Thus, to maintain accurate inventory records, all POS data will be inputs for inventory managers to monitor carefully and take appropriate actions. Inventory managers must run point-of-sale reports from their warehouse management system to monitor warehouse performance, identify areas for efficiency improvement, and expedite delivery. This section is critical for determining the health of your inventory management and warehouse management processes.

Benefits Of Carrying Out an Inventory Report

Inventory reports enable you to operate your business without interruption or financial loss.

They can assist you in reducing costs and minimising the risk of running out of stock.

While inventory reporting may appear to be additional time or paperwork, it has the potential to save you a lot of money and unnecessary effort.

Inventory control

Inventory management is a significant application of inventory reporting.

You must be aware of your inventory to avoid running out before customers’ orders are fulfilled. Ordering too late results in items being out of stock and sales being lost. On the contrary, ordering too much too soon depletes your cash flow, increases the risk of damaged inventory, and necessitates additional warehouse space. Accurate inventory reporting alerts you when your stock levels have reached the reorder point, allowing you to replenish.

Inventory management (within warehouses)

If you have a large inventory and a high sales volume, you must keep track of your inventory’s location within the warehouse(s) you use for order fulfilment.

Tracking SKUs by inventory storage location and maintaining organisation can make your job easier by preventing unnecessary product movement, double handling, and even lost inventory.

Additionally, it can assist you in the following ways:

• Maintain a record of items ordered within a specified date range.
• If you place orders with multiple suppliers
• In the event of a recall, identify the products that are affected.
• If you need to return a damaged item
• If your inventory is perishable or fluctuates in price regularly, you may need to track its location to comply with FIFO (first in, first out) or LIFO (last in, first out) inventory rules.

 

Categorization Of Inventory

Depending on your industry, your inventory may be classified in a variety of ways. When confronted with a mountain of cardboard boxes, it can be difficult to discern what is what. 

A real-time list of items in each category enables you to track inventory as it moves through the supply chain. For example, manufacturers frequently need to track inventory in the form of raw materials, finished goods, or inventory ready to sell.

Each category or step’s inventory valuation is a necessary component of tracking the cost of goods sold for tax purposes and inventory accounting. Once a product is received in your fulfilment centre, you’ll want to track it as inventory is received, stowed, picked for an order, packed in a box, and shipped to a customer.

 

Automate Your Inventory Report With ShipBob

ShipBob streamlines the process for online merchants by providing accurate inventory reporting.

ShipBob integrates with your eCommerce store and manages your eCommerce fulfilment.

All of your inventory is stored at one of ShipBob’s warehouses located throughout the United States, and they provide on-site and online inventory reporting.

Because inventory reports are synced with your eCommerce platform, they are updated in real-time to reflect exactly what you have in stock, minute by minute.

You can access detailed reports, complete with charts and graphs, that provide an overview of your stock.

Visit ShipBob’s advanced reporting features to learn more and see how your business’s inventory reports could look.

 

Final Thoughts

The structure of an eCommerce business is its products and inventory. Understanding how to create primary inventory reports is critical for any business owner. These can assist in tracking product performance, mitigating risks, avoiding stock-outs, and meeting demand regardless of seasonal spikes in sales. Inventory management becomes more challenging when selling via multiple channels. When orders come from multiple sources, the requirement for data synchronisation across all of them becomes necessary. Thus, having an inventory management system is a win-win situation.