Having an online small business can be very fun and exciting, but it can also cause a lot of hassle. One of the most common issues that can arise is inventory tracking for online sales. It can be easy starting out but once your company grows to a certain size, the problem becomes exponentially more difficult. Here are three high-tech ideas to help you monitor your e-commerce inventory more easily.
1- Download Inventory Management Software
The first potential solution is to use inventory tracking software, which is available in both free and paid versions, depending on the needs of your business. This software can take sales data directly from your account and change inventory counts as soon as you’ve marked the item as having shipped.
This software can save hundreds of hours every year by automating procedures and allowing you to spend more time focused on more essential tasks, like growing your business.
2- Write Your Own Program
If you can’t find a program that fits the needs of your business, you can write your own, Or hire a coder using a platform like Fiverr, or ask a friend or employee to do it for you. This allows you to customize it and perform the exact functions that your inventory management software needs for your business to thrive.
Although it may seem tempting, it is not recommended at this time to use AI to craft a program unless you have an experienced programmer to double-check the work. AI-generated code can be a good starting point but the technology has not advanced to the point that the code it produces is viable without first being checked by a human engineer.
3- Use Barcodes
Using a barcode system in your warehouse can help keep track of inventory as it leaves to be sent to customers. This information can be combined with your sales data to make sure that your stock hasn’t been lost or stolen and that the correct items have been sent out to your customers.
This is especially useful if your sales are split between in-store and online, which can make inventory management even more difficult. If you have homemade or other items that don’t have manufacturer’s barcodes on them, you can create your own for free online. You can make up any numbers you want since the barcode won’t be scanned by another business, which could confuse their system.
These are just a few of the high-tech ideas that you can use to help track inventory for your e-commerce business. By using an inventory management program, writing or commissioning one of your own, or a third thing, you can spend more time focusing on growing your business and less time counting boxes in a warehouse to verify the exact number of each item you have on hand.
Although inventory management can be annoying and time-consuming, using technology can make monitoring your supply levels easier than ever, and this will improve operations and increase sales which both affect your revenue. Good luck out there!
