With intelligent inventory this now belongs to the past

Stocktakes are mandatory for retail businesses. With the right software, they can fulfil much more than just legal requirements. A real-time view on inventory provides the basis for high on-shelf availability and customer-oriented services. 

The word inventory has its roots in the Latin “invenire” which means “to find something“. Anyone who has ever been involved in the process of a stocktake knows exactly how well this terminology fits. Finding something becomes particularly complex if the ERP system displays a different stock than what is counted on the sales floor and in the backroom. Usually, the products are written off as loss or attributed to shoplifting – which is a big problem especially in the fashion retail industry.  But what if articles that could not be found are still in the store? And what about “positive differences” – meaning a surplus of stock?

The crux with inexact stocks

RFID-based article management with permanent inventory offers a very precise and reliable view on the stock-figures. Businesses are presented with real-time data, which the store personnel can access at any time. With this form of inventory, retailers get accurate stock information at any time and do not have to deal with numbers which may or may not be accurate at present. At the same time, the level of granularity can be increased: RFID technology makes it easy to determine which items are in the backroom and which ones are on the sales floor – the ideal starting point for a truly efficient refill process.

The optimal inventory cycle

The objectives of an intelligent inventory management process go far beyond the accounting requirements. A question that is frequently asked is “how often do we need to do that in order to achieve our targets”? Today’s systems, using AI and machine learning techniques, can automatically suggest the optimal inventory cycle, providing increased efficiency and store performance with positive effects on the overall profitability. A perfectly balanced inventory requires systems with an integrated and automated replenishment process, analytical forecasts on top sellers and the corresponding size breakdown.

Project implementation: a few hours. Stocktake duration: a few minutes.

It’s not only expensive to close down the store and hire additional personnel to carry out stocktakes – also the degrading accuracy has severe impact on the top and bottom line results of a store. For a quick start into exact inventories, intelligent software that drives article availability and inventory accuracy near 100% within just a few hours is now available –without having to invest heavily in a time- and resource consuming project. The quick-start system delivers a convincing performance in the store from day one and makes the roll-out across the entire store network easy and fast. The tedious and time consuming way of looking for articles that may or may not be there will be a thing of the past. Maybe it is time to find a new Latin word that is more suitable?