Running any business has its challenges, and an online store is no exception. But the great thing about e-commerce is that there are a lot of alternatives to managing your inventory. With more than $100 billion spent per quarter online in the US alone, there’s no shortage of services dedicated to these kinds of logistics. If you’re on the hunt for ways to up your inventory management game, look no further. The following five aspects of inventory management will help you stay on top of the competition.
Consider An End-To-End Fulfillment Company
The easiest way to streamline your fulfillment is to use one company to handle all aspects of logistics. One such end-to-end option for fulfillment services is Newegg Logistics, a highly-rated company for eCommerce sellers across the country. The benefits of using an end-to-end logistics and fulfillment company are numerous. For starters, you get both experience and scalability when you choose to outsource your logistics to a third party company. Especially if you’re wanting to start things small and then begin growing your inventory and sales, an end-to-end company can help you achieve your goals.
Use Metadata To Your Advantage
Metadata is becoming increasingly important when it comes to having users find you online. If your product pages already have keywords featured in the copy and product description, you’re well on your way to optimizing your search results. However, if you aren’t using these kinds of keywords as metadata in your product images, you could be missing out. Especially if you’re selling products that can be purchased from other businesses, it’s a good idea to include all relevant keywords to your niche wherever you can.
Highlight Your Best Products On The Homepage
Once you’re on top of your inventory management, you can leverage the data and insights gleaned from an organized system to make even more sales. One way to do this is to analyze which products are your best sellers and then promote those items more by placing them front-and-center on your homepage. Popular electronics outlet thestore.com is a great example of this. Not only are their hottest items on display right on the homepage, but each product category also features top sellers at the top of the page.
Organize Your Inventory Using A Simple Database
Having a simple database can make inventory management much easier when it comes to running your business. The last thing that you want is to sell a customer an item only to realize that it’s out of stock and will take two weeks to order a new one. This sort of situation can spell disaster for your business, especially at a time where all online companies have to compete with high shipping standards set forth by companies like Amazon. Do yourself a favor and keep track of what you’re selling and what you’ve sold so that you don’t run into this problem.
Stay On Top Of Pricing Trends
It’s also important to keep track of how your competitors are pricing similar items to yours. If you don’t do this, you may risk losing out on sales from loyal customers just because your price should have been updated two weeks ago when a newer product came out and cut old ones’ prices in half. By staying on top of pricing trends, you’ll also be able to better forecast how your business will perform each quarter.
There are many factors at play when it comes to managing your inventory. From having the right fulfillment and logistics company to knowing how to categorize and price your products, there’s plenty to do when it comes to revitalizing the way you approach your inventory. Keep in mind that investing this time and energy into doing things properly can ultimately make things easier for your customers, increasing their satisfaction as well as your profits.