Inventory management is essential for the healthy operation of a business. Why? Inventory represents a large capital, and that’s why you need to keep track of it very carefully. But that’s not the only reason. As a business, you always need to be able to supply consumers with the products they order. Failing to fulfill an order due to poor inventory management is a critical mistake that will lead to lost revenue and negative reviews. We notice that many businesses are looking for a way to manage inventory for free. But is free inventory management really effective?
Free Inventory Management
If you’re looking for a system to manage your inventory for free, you’ll often be disappointed. Every inventory management system requires payment. However, you don’t have to use a particular system to organize your inventory management. You could, for example, use file drawers or Excel. Keeping inventory manually is an endless job and outdated. Imagine you have to record and track every action in the warehouse. The paperwork involved is mind-boggling. As an entrepreneur, you want to optimize all aspects of your business. When you track inventory on paper, you’re not optimizing but rather increasing the workload. Moreover, this form of inventory management is prone to errors. In short, paper-based inventory management costs a lot of money due to error margins and the time your employees invest in it.
You can also manage inventory in Excel. This eliminates the paperwork but still doesn’t optimize your process. Inventory management in Excel is often very limited. You track how many products are in stock and possibly where they are located in the warehouse, using warehouse locations. In other words, this form of inventory management is very basic. An Excel file also requires knowledge of Microsoft Office. Extracting statistics and such is not as simple as it seems. You also need to invest time and energy to check whether all formulas are correct. As a business, you probably have an office package, making Excel almost free for inventory management. However, we recommend that you move toward a modern inventory management system.
An Inventory Management System
A modern inventory management system is not free, but it will bring significant benefits. Such a system works fully automatically, so you no longer have to spend time tracking papers or checking formulas. Manual data entry is a thing of the past!
Inventory management using an inventory management system ensures that the stock is updated immediately when you register goods or pick orders. Picking orders becomes much more efficient. When you use warehouse locations, you can link the entire inventory to these locations. If you’re picking multiple sales orders, the system will plot the most efficient route through the warehouse. Warehouse employees will cover much less distance, allowing them to process more orders. This is a crucial element, as it allows you to process more orders without investing in additional employees. You only need to invest in an inventory management system.
Such investments pay for themselves! On one hand, you work much more efficiently and the error margin is significantly reduced. On the other hand, such systems offer extensive reporting capabilities. Thanks to these reports, you can find out which products are selling well and therefore need to stock up during peak times to prevent stockouts. You can calculate stock turnover and identify slow-moving inventory. In short, the reports help you manage your inventory better.
Inventory Management with Webship Online
Looking for a modern inventory management system? Check out Webship Online. Webship Online is an inventory management system developed by the fulfillment center Webship. The system makes inventory management a breeze. Additionally, Webship Online offers many extra features. For example, you can connect warehouse resources to the system to check how much packaging material is used per order. You can also print shipping labels directly from the system! Using customer data, the system automatically generates a shipping label. This saves you time and energy.
Webship Online is of course not free. Depending on the number of products in stock and the number of orders shipped per month, you’ll pay a monthly fee. These fees are incomparable to the amount of man-hours you save. Plus, you also save money due to the reduced error margin. In short, if you want to take your business to the next level, don’t hesitate to use a system to manage your inventory. Want to test Webship Online for free? Contact Webship Online at hallo@webship.online.