ideas-and-tool: Technology planning

Pure Commerce share four secrets that helped their clients achieve record growth in tough market conditions

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  1. DEAR isn’t just for sorting your inventory or modernizing your business: it helps you keep your approach flexible

  2. You can afford your own, fully-customized, fully-integrated ERP (if it’s DEAR)

  3. Any product business can benefit from DEAR

  4. A great implementation partner will let you outsource the back-office

“We actually started out as a DEAR customer,” says Filipe Nicolau, owner and founder of Pure Commerce. “We were responsible for changing the entire inventory management process for a clothing company and taking the business online — and DEAR was the go-to choice of ERP. We took that knowledge, and started a business around eCommerce inventory management systems and ERPs, and DEAR was a natural fit.”

Pure Commerce is a DEAR implementation partner and digital agency that specialize in solutions for eCommerce businesses. Filipe has been helping businesses both large and small implement DEAR for a long time now, and he’s happy to recommend the software to product businesses of all kinds.

“DEAR is a.) user friendly and b.) well plugged into eCommerce titans like Shopify,” Filipe says. “Compared to competitors, it’s a tenth of the price, and yet it does everything you need it to do.”

No matter how big your company gets, DEAR can scale to meet your needs.

Clients range from blue-chip companies in South Africa that are running giant warehouses and massive eCommerce stores, to mid-market businesses with five or six shops, all the way to people with just one or sometimes no store,” Filipe says. What they all have in common is they need a proper system to function like an ERP and manage inventory for their eCommerce sites.

“Because of DEAR’s price tiers, the smaller businesses can purchase it just as easily as the blue-chip companies. It’s accessible to all our customers. And no matter what we throw at DEAR, it just keeps being able to do it.”

Any product business can benefit from DEAR

The industry you’re in, says Pure Commerce, doesn’t matter too much: so long as your business is moving product, it can benefit from DEAR.

“We’ve got clients in the clothing sector, in manufacturing, in pottery, in health and wellness — all running DEAR.”

The first benefit of DEAR for many customers is simply being able to tell where all their inventory is. But once that’s established, customers find their other requirements or pain points are taken care of as well.

“When we first started, we used DEAR just to run a warehouse — purely ERP, stock management, goods in and goods out. Not even for financials, just to track stock. That was it,” Filipe says. “But with our business expertise and the functionality offered by DEAR, we can create any system a customer requires.”

Customers find DEAR helpful for syncing inventory through to finances, using programs like QuickBooks Online or Xero, and adding inventory capability to eCommerce platforms like Shopify. They use it for manufacturing, retail Point of Sale (POS) and expanding sales channels, making it easy to add a D2C channel to a B2B business, or vice versa.

“DEAR’s B2B portal is, for a lot of our customers, something they find themselves wanting to add, and it’s super easy to implement,” Filipe says.

Pure Commerce tends to stay away from the accounting and bookkeeping side of things. Their job is to make sure the business elements are all connected up, and they make sure their customers are connected with great accounting teams who know how to make inventory systems work well with financial systems of record.

Get an implementation partner that allows you to outsource the back-office

“A lot of our customers come to us saying they don’t know where to start. They’re starting a business from scratch. Well, we’ve done that ourselves! So we give them a full implementation, top to bottom, and in a lot of cases, it’s really saved their bacon. One client was a clothing company — we helped them get online, and they’re now running an online store and just launching their third physical store.”

For these companies, Pure Commerce functions essentially as an outsourced back office.

“We act as their support team for all things, not only eCommerce, but everything related to DEAR, to the operational side of the business. We’re their go-to.”

Pure Commerce have had great successes among their clients, with a number taken from operating entirely using pen-and-paper to DEAR Systems, using a full modern ERP and software app stack.

“We’ve had companies who were in the dark ages. Now they’re walking around with tablets managing production lines and things like that,” Filipe says.

Other success stories include a blue-chip company that started 2019 with barely any online presence and thousands of physical stores — and we all know what happened next. The Covid-19 pandemic hit, the company was forced to close all its stores.

“We had the CEO call and say ‘Listen, you need to save our bacon. We need to be fully online in a minimum of four months,’” Filipe says. “We launched them all online with one DEAR ERP and stock management system. There’s a massive warehouse in Cape Town, five stories high, that’s running all the company’s brands, all on DEAR. DEAR is keeping track of everything and feeding each brand’s website with inventory information.”

The changes Pure Commerce and DEAR have brought have had huge effects on the company. “It’s definitely changed their lives. They’ve never looked back — they’re pumping out products online and they’re growing day by day,” Filipe says.

DEAR offers incredible opportunities for new directions — for both product companies and their advisors

A lot of consulting companies would be thrilled to find themselves in the same position as Pure Commerce. They have a steady business and happy clients, and over the period of turmoil wrought by Covid-19 they’ve found themselves busier than ever. But they’re not stopping there. Their experience with DEAR means they can now branch out in exciting new directions, quite different to what you’d normally expect from a self-described “outsourced back-office.”

“Last year we used DEAR to launch our own Pure Commerce third-party logistics warehouse,” Filipe says. “A lot of clients don’t have warehousing, so we offer the ability to keep their stock in ours. We have our own DEAR account, which plugs into the client’s Shopify sites, and we pull the orders through to the warehouse. We pick, pack and ship on their behalf.”

All this activity is supporting the growth of Pure Commerce’s clients, as well as Pure Commerce itself. In the last three years, they’ve quadrupled their business. “And it’s primarily due to lockdown, to the pandemic. Everyone has realized that they need to be online,” Filipe says.

You can afford your own custom ERP — if it’s DEAR

Pure Commerce says that any product company can benefit from the features DEAR offers, but the features aren’t the only factor that decision-makers weigh up when considering an inventory management system. The price is also hugely important — but here, too, DEAR is beating the competition.

“The value for money you get from DEAR is amazing. You can get a B2B portal, you can run your POS, your sales channels, integrate into Amazon or pretty much anything else, integrate your accounting systems,” Filipe says.

“It’s a cost-effective system, a one-stop shop that gives customers an ERP and that allows Experts to solve pretty much all your customers’ problems with one system. The unique thing about DEAR is it can be for selling anything — from potatoes, to clothing, to pottery. That’s why it appeals to such a wide range of implementation partners and customers.”

About Pure Commerce

Pure Commerce is a DEAR implementation partner and digital agency that specialize in solutions for eCommerce businesses. Here, they explain how product companies can benefit from implementing DEAR — and the right implementation partner.

About Cin7 Experts

Cin7 Experts experienced with DEAR are an essential part of the Cin7 inventory management community. No matter what kind of product business you’re running, where you’re located, or what you’re trying to achieve, there’s a Cin7 Expert on DEAR who can help you achieve your ambition while saving your money and time.

The Cin7 quick reference guide to inventory management

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In today’s economy, small to medium sized businesses are competing with global conglomerates. Efficient inventory and order management is one way for solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, and small business managers to level the playing field and grow their brand.

Inventory management functionality is what fast-growing businesses need to stay competitive. This article is your definitive guide to inventory management to scale your business efficiently and effectively.

What is inventory management?

Inventory management is the process of ordering, storing, using, and selling business inventory. It is a system that tracks raw materials, components, and finished products to ensure enough supplies are on hand to meet the purchasing demands of the customer.

Inventory management is measured as inventory turnover. It reflects how often your products are sold within a specified time period. A measure of business health is maintaining adequate inventory turnover where your business does not have more products than sells – or excess inventory. Poor inventory turnover leads to deadstock or unsold stock/product.

Retail inventory management

Retail is a general term used to describe businesses selling physical products to consumers. Although not exclusive to retail, inventory management plays a more critical role in this industry over others.

There are a growing number of ways to sell products including the following:

  • Offline. A company uses a physical brick-and-mortar location to sell its products.
  • Online. A company sells its products over the internet using an ecommerce website or marketplace.
  • Multichannel. This employs multiple ways a company sells to its customers including an online store or marketplace or a physical location. Increasingly, companies also use social media sites to sell products. With multichannel selling, each channel operates independently of each other.
  • Omnichannel. This way of selling creates a unified, integrated experience for customers across all offline and online channels. Where multichannel selling operates independently, omnichannel is focused on a seamless experience for the customer.

Wholesale distributors sell products to other businesses rather than individual consumers. This form of selling is referred to as business-to-business (B2B) or B2B ecommerce. B2B selling can include any of the above methods.

Regardless of how a company chooses to sell its products, inventory must be managed. However, inventory management is different depending on the constraints of how products are sold.

Importance of inventory management

Good inventory management is an essential part of running a successful retail business. It provides a seamless customer experience, maximizes profits, and improves cash flow. A company’s inventory management system should optimize fulfillment and avoid shrinkage and waste. Without an effective system in place to manage inventory, retailers risk running out of products during peak demands from their customers.

Good inventory management includes the following:

  • Enterprise resource planning (ERP). ERP software manages key business operations including human resources, accounting, procurement, warehousing, production, marketing, and sales. ERP systems optimized for inventory management help maintain optimal levels of stock by combining the inventory needs of staff, customers, and suppliers.
  • Proper warehouse management. The barcode system, first-in-first-out (FIFO), and last-in-first-out (LIFO) techniques offer a clear picture of present and past inventory available with the company and optimize warehouse functions.
  • Managed sales operations. Sales is a continuous process that depends on manufacturers for goods or services. Efficient inventory management minimizes the risks of unavailability of raw materials needed in manufacturing.
  • Customer experience. Understanding the customer buying journey mitigates risks associated with insufficient stock to fulfill orders.
  • Shrinkage avoidance. Shrinkage results in inventory loss attributed to employee and customer theft, administrative or cashier error, vendor fraud, damage, and spoiling.
  • Cash flow. Inventory levels are key to maintaining a good cash flow that ensures all aspects of the business run smoothly. Excess inventory ties up cash in products that could rather be spent on operations including salaries and other fixed costs.
  • Fulfillment. Product availability is essential for fulfilling orders quickly. A good inventory system delineates where products are along the supply chain.

Types of inventory management

There are numerous types of inventory management systems. Which is best for your organization depends on budget, cost, utility, and accessibility.

Barcode inventory management

The barcode system is an automated and simplified way to manage inventory. A unique number or barcode is assigned to each product. Data points assigned to that number can include information about the supplier, the product, and the inventory or stock. When a product is sold, the barcode is scanned and inventory adjusted automatically. Additionally, management can find key inventory metrics by scanning the barcode to bring up the item on a computer database.

Continuous/perpetual inventory management

A continuous or perpetual system manages inventory in real time, recording changes in inventory at the time of the transaction. It uses radio frequency identification (RFID) to passively identify tagged objects (inventory) for tracking along a supply chain.

Periodic inventory management

This is a manual process used to determine the inventory at a particular time point such as end-of-day or year’s end. This form of inventory management is most time-consuming as it involves physically counting the products on the shelves. Periodic inventory management is used primarily for inventory valuation and accounting purposes.

Inventory management process

Below is the step-by-step method to improve an organization’s inventory management system.

1. Determine the loopholes

Identify actual stock on hand and the inventory requirements for the goods sold to determine if gaps exist between demand and supply, and reasons for those gaps.

2. Analyze spending patterns and consumer demand

Market demand forecasting helps organizations estimate production quantity to determine what is needed to maintain adequate inventory.

3. Evaluate the cost involved

Cost of goods sold includes different expenses like warehousing, maintenance, bulk discounts, transport, and supply chain costs. Each of these needs to be well analyzed.

4. Identify the extent of process automation

It is not possible for each organization to completely automate the inventory management process. However, it’s important to identify those particular areas where automation is possible.

5. Inspect supplier’s performance and practices

The supply chain is critical for maintaining adequate inventory. Identifying any holes in the supply chain or supplier’s performance is necessary. And, if needed, identify additional or alternative suppliers.

6. Classify inventories into various categories

Products must be segregated into categories based on the product type, maintenance cost, customer class, or profit margin.

7. Set objectives for all inventory categories

Set benchmark objectives and goals to efficiently track and manage the performance of all inventory categories. This can identify any issues within each of the categories.

8. Prioritize the areas of improvement

Analyzing goals and objectives allows companies to prioritize improvement needs. Improvement prioritization should be based on the impact of problems identified. Implement a hierarchy to address those areas.

9. Take advice from experts

Designing a proper inventory management system cannot be overemphasized. Employing consultants or experts will ensure the inventory management system meets the company’s needs and stays within their desired budget.

10. Frame suitable inventory management policy

The final step in implementing a good inventory management strategy is consistent and timely evaluation to determine what changes and improvements are necessary to add value and create an improved customer experience. These changes can be based on a number of factors, most notably supply and demand.

Choosing an inventory management system

Which inventory management system is right for your business depends on a number of factors. Here are just a few things to keep in mind.

Timing

There are various signs you have outgrown a standard inventory system including inventory errors and constant over stocking. When you find you’re spending more time on manual, operational tasks than growth, it is likely time to automate your inventory process.

Features

Prepare a list of “must-haves” for your inventory management system. Do you ship orders or use digital packing? Does your company process both wholesale and retail orders? Are you manufacturing your products? All of these affect which type of inventory management system is best for your company.

Support

Customer support is essential for set-up as well as troubleshooting should things go wrong. Support includes phone, chat, and/or email contact. Consider support hours – is the support team available when you need support?

Ease of use

Determine your staffing needs and the technical prowess of your staff. Will the inventory management system meet those needs and ability levels? The system you choose needs to be easy to use as well as transferable between departments.

Integrations

Prepare a list of must-have integrations, e.g., ecommerce platform, accounting, shipping, marketplace, POS, 3PL, etc. It’s essential that the new inventory system integrates directly without requiring additional applications, middleware providers, or software managed by third parties.

Development

Your inventory management system will manage a critical part of your business. Finding innovation-driven software using the latest technology is vital.

Ready for even more in-depth inventory management coaching? Download our complete guide on inventory management here.

Cin7’s inventory management solution for multichannel selling

Cin7 was built with modern businesses in mind. Its inventory and order management software offers a cloud-based solution that integrates all your sales channels into a single platform. Cin7 provides advanced automation processes to create seamless transactions centered around a positive customer experience.

Ditch the spreadsheets and stop manual data entry. Reach new markets with Cin7’s inventory and order management system.

Book your demo now.

The #1 secret to becoming a thriving product seller: Hire a Cin7 expert

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When Covid-19 struck, companies all over the world felt the blow. Some went under, and some survived. But among these, there was another subset – companies that thrived.

What was their secret?

In late 2021, Cin7 conducted a comprehensive study of over 4,000 etailers and retailers to discover what successful companies did different: a deep dive into the tactics that high-performing product sellers used to increase sales performance during the 2020-21 economic collapse.

One of the standout findings: companies that had hired technology consultants and certified experts to help with implementation and tech stack support tended to experience much more profitability, often up to 50 percent or more.

This finding confirmed something we knew well internally: Cin7 experts help product sellers thrive, even in difficult times. Inspired by this, we’ve just launched an expert directory to make finding the right consultant quick and easy. Any product seller that wants to achieve more can now easily browse through the directory and connect with the expert that best suits their needs. Custom filters within the directory narrow searches by service, budget, inventory solution, location, and scale.

Cin7 experts are specialized partners who are committed to providing resources to help brands, retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers with a wide range of business needs. Experts can handle anything from data migration, technical training, ecommerce, process development and automation, financial planning – and much more besides.

Whenever a product seller needs financial planning, help implementing a new inventory and order management solution, or assistance integrating it with their accounting software, a 3PL, or online marketplace, they can find the perfect people to help instantly, in the Cin7 expert directory.

Since the inventory and order automation needs of product sellers are often quite different, our Cin7 expert directory gives product sellers hundreds of options to find just the right kind of expert, coach, accountant, or software integrator. There are three different types of Cin7 experts you can find – and many have super powers in more than one area.

1. Agency experts

These experts are magnificent at giving best-in-class advice on the latest and most successful ecommerce and multichannel selling and customer loyalty strategies. Customers whose businesses have reached the point where they can no longer rely on inefficient, manual record keeping and inventory management benefit from a consultant who has studied the various inventory and order management software solutions on the market and can make recommendations based on what sort of business you’re running. Cin7 agency experts are able to administer multiple SaaS products and specialize in system audits, inventory system implementations or migrations, custom integration development, system administration, and technical training for staff and managers. Agency experts can reduce a customer’s dependence on redundant processes and help them to get the most out of their technology investments.

2. System / Cloud integration experts

These certified experts specialize in helping product sellers worldwide manage their inventory, sales, order fulfillment and warehousing. These experts provide their clients superior automation and have incredibly deep expertise at solving the most common and complex software setup, configuration, integration, and optimization problems. Their clients gain superior efficiency and unrivaled capabilities to delight customers and outmaneuver their competitors. These integration experts are a treasure chest of wisdom and experience the product seller can easily tap into to select the best inventory management solution from the top three solutions in the market: Cin7, DEAR, and Cin7 Orderhive. What’s more, cloud integration experts have the experience and knowledge to quickly bring together into one system all of the disparate software programs and sales channels that product sellers need to thrive.

3. Virtual CFO / Accounting experts

Want to make more money? Be more profitable? To sell more effectively? These experts are exactly what you need. They have advised hundreds of product sellers and coached them from low performing businesses into many of the most profitable and successful product sellers. Cin7 business owners who need professional advice to help them decide which investments to make, how to efficiently manage inventory, and run successful businesses need to look no further than the Cin7 expert directory for the top virtual CFOs and accounting experts anywhere.

Since most product sellers are in need of help to organize their technology stack, we’ve included advice to business owners who are looking for a consultant in this area. However, these steps to evaluating technology specialists can be applied to any of the experts described above.

You can learn a lot from how product sellers have engaged with experts by reading about their collaborations in our customer stories. Here are some general tips based on their experience with experts on making the right choice when it comes to hiring an expert coach:

1. Find a Cin7 agency expert,  coach or consultant

If you aren’t tech-savvy, you need to enlist help from an experienced professional who can help you navigate the many costly traps and exciting opportunities of selling in today’s multichannel marketplace. While there is a cost associated with bringing someone on, consider that you’re already running your own experiments every day with your digital advertising, product designs, and shipping. If your coach prevents even one mistake, this will easily cover more than a full year of engagement fees.

2. Ask a Cin7 cloud /systems integrator to review your tech stack and IT team

Request they perform a “tech audit,” and provide a detailed assessment of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis) of your current approach. Ask them to explain how the current technology will support or hinder your vision for your ecommerce, B2B, and D2C sales channels. This clarity will help you execute a sound overall strategy instead of ad hoc tactics.

3. Hire an in-house technical/IT person to work with your experts to implement the changes that will deliver super-sized outcomes for your business

Your tech coach can help you craft a perfect job description. You could even ask them to help you interview, shape the compensation, and pick the right candidate. Your tech coach can give you the blueprint for an ideal tech stack, but you still need a team to build and run it. You’ll need to combine talents of your own team and your tech coach’s expertise to achieve the greatest, sustainable success.

Pick an expert with experience building great tech stacks for the sales channels you are targeting. Just because a coach has a list of successful D2C sales channel references, it does not mean they will be of any help to you if you need to open up B2B sales channels with self-service options.

Here’s an extensive list of projects that a Cin7 Expert can help with:

  • New system implementations
  • Inventory system migrations
  • Training for staff & managers
  • System audits & changes
  • Workflow design & automations
  • Custom integration development
  • Technology roadmap creation
  • Accounting and bookkeeping
  • Outsourced system administration
  • International expansion
  • Strategic financial advice
  • CFO and controller outsourcing
  • Ecommerce audit & growth
  • Marketing strategy & execution

Are you an expert yourself? To join the Cin7 expert network of professional service providers who enjoy exposure to over 8,000 potential global customers, follow this link and one of our Partner Managers will reach out to you. If you’re a retailer and you’re looking for a certified expert, choose the applicable project criteria in the Cin7 expert directory.

How the latest inventory software can streamline ecommerce selling

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Ecommerce is fiercely competitive and the competition has only increased due to the pandemic. Retailers must adapt accordingly and keep pace with changing market conditions. As an ecommerce business owner, you are required to handle multiple jobs simultaneously and you are often pulled in many directions. Learn more about inventory software for ecommerce in this article.

Those directions could include stocking the hottest products or fulfilling orders across multiple channels. That does not even take into account the marketing and customer service efforts.

So, how do you build your customer base and keep your current customers happy? The answer is ecommerce automation.

The technology that is available today provides you with lots of ecommerce automation options to address your business requirements. The concept is simple – using software to convert manual operations into automated workflows.

Technology can accomplish a broad set of operational tasks without human intervention. Sending emails to different customers, generating support tickets, and fulfilling orders are examples.

Not only does ecommerce automation save time, it also saves money. Automation gives your business team back time to focus on customer service, innovation, and creativity.

Now, let’s have a look at how technology can help your ecommerce business run more smoothly and profitably:

1. Automated and centralized inventory management for multichannel ecommerce

A cloud-based, multichannel inventory management system (IMS) lets brands optimize the supply chain and avoid losses due to stock-outs. AN IMS helps manage business inventory flow through a single dashboard with real-time access to sales and stock movement data.

An inventory management system enables you to list your products across multiple ecommerce platforms and brick-and-mortar locations and process orders through a centralized hub that updates your accounting software.

Take out the manual factors from inventory management, and minimize the possibility of human error.

Here are some key value-adds that an IMS would bring:

  • Reduce understocking & overstocking
  • Reduce headcount for daily operations
  • Avoid shipping errors & returns
  • Accurate inventory forecast and planning
  • Increase order fulfillment rate
  • Detailed inventory and sales reports
  • Reduce hits to overhead because of human error
  • Real-time updates to your accounting program

2. Zero effort sales recognition and accounting automation

One of the big benefits of digital businesses is not needing the large sales team of yesteryear. A small sales team can make operations effective through automated procedures and assessment tools like a CRM.

CRMs help manage tasks like adding new leads, call scheduling, contact information, and users can allocate follow-ups transparently and quickly. CRMs also help prevent two people approaching the same lead.

Most importantly, sales teams can keep records of call specifics and outcomes, which can be useful in future follow-ups. Hubspot, Zoho, and Salesforce are some of the most popular CRMs to try out.

Accounting and sales must coexist harmoniously and share inputs to bookkeeping. There are several accounting solutions to choose from, just make sure it will integrate with your inventory and order management software.

3. AI-enabled customer service desk increases brand loyalty

Customer service is a critical aspect of your business and directly impacts customer loyalty and brand image. There are several customer service platforms to choose from that should allow you to automate repetitive tasks. Chatbots, for instance, are still the most common way to do so.

Chatbots are programs that help to automate customer interactions by responding to a set of specified conditions, events, and question triggers. Product-focused chatbot interactions are increasing in popularity.

As per a Facebook poll, more than half of customers said they were more likely to shop with a company that allows them to communicate via chat.

Customers want to find the information they need in a matter of seconds with a click. Chatbots solve for that. Plus, various solutions can be used to integrate chatbots into ecommerce websites and social media accounts with minimum development expenditures.

Chatbots are an integral part of a company’s customer service strategy – Octane, MobileMonkey, and Bostify are some of the most common chatbots for ecommerce. Chatfuel is another shareware option and is one of the finest ecommerce chatbot services.

4. Technology driven and seamless payment options

Customers want personalization and seamless ecommerce experiences. According to Business Insider, global customers will make 1.1 trillion cashless payments by 2024 by acquiring products and services using a mix of mobile, web, and linked devices.

Passive authentication like face and touch ID has become more popular as technology advances because your credentials are already loaded into your ewallet and ready to pay. This is made possible by services like AmazonPay, ApplePay, GooglePay, Paytm, PhonePe, PayPal, and similar services.

5. Transition to a multichannel experience

Your customers expect your products to be available across the spectrum of selling channels they have to choose from. Web stores, physical stores, social media, and online marketplaces are all part of multichannel retailing. Today, single-click buy on ecommerce sites, a social media presence, brand awareness, and overall lifestyle affinity all play a role in purchasing behavior.

The main objective of multichannel selling is to make sure that marketing techniques enable clients to convert via each type of sales channel. With the proper automation technology at hand and a multichannel strategy, your brand can offer a seamless customer experience.

Walmart’s “order-by-text and chat services” was one example of how brands can leverage technology as part of their multichannel strategy. The service let customers place orders with a text message and offered same-day delivery.

The service is no longer offered, but it paved the way for other ecommerce brands to provide something exceptional to their customers.

6. Integrate social commerce into ecommerce strategy

Most businesses use social media platforms for advertising. It helps customers purchase by leveraging social media’s convenience, usability, and reach.

Facebook Marketplace was mainly created in 2018 to compete with Amazon, Google Shopping, and Etsy. Instagram adopted product tags in 2016 to help users recognize the products and prices they see in adverts.

With the integration of BigCommerce and Shopify in 2017, customers would go to a web page to make a purchase.

Pinterest has a similar appearance to Instagram, added buyable pins to select brands in 2015, and their user numbers rose in 2016. A shopping cart was also introduced to help buy from multiple merchants simultaneously.

Conclusion on inventory software for ecommerce

Working in the ecommerce space requires dealing with competitors and meeting customer expectations and demands. Current technology solutions can automate mundane tasks and streamline operations.

Choosing an Inventory Management Software (IMS) like Cin7 increases operational efficiency and overall productivity for all kinds of retailers and wholesalers. Get your inventory software for ecommerce today!

Inventory Control: How The Right Software Can Increase eCommerce Revenue

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Inventory control is a massive organizational function and its complexity multiplies as your business grows. This is especially true for ecommerce businesses due to the number of SKUs, competitive landscape and inherent volatility. The pandemic only added to the speed of ecommerce adoption, leaving online sellers compelled to streamline and optimize their business processes.

Using a software solution that organizes inventory control for a successful ecommerce business is necessary, but choosing the right one can be complicated. On the one hand, you have comprehensive solutions that come with the “best-in-class” tag and then there are solutions that offer “functional value.”

While there’s a huge price difference between the two types of inventory solutions, you should not give up on either of their qualities. Therefore, you need to go for the right package that helps your business realize its true potential.

In this article, we will go through various areas where the right ecommerce solution can help online sellers grow their businesses. Let’s begin:

Why Do ecommerce Stores Need Inventory Control Software?

Online selling is easy to get started with, but as time passes, business owners realize that they need to take care of many priorities. These may come in the form of business opportunities, expansion hazards, employee management, marketing plans, target platforms and audience and product life cycles..

With growth, the management of inventory control can become a complex challenge. Most online sellers begin with manual processes to keep inventory in check and then later switch to Excel or Google Spreadsheets.

Spreadsheets provide the required utility in the beginning, but as your operations grow, they become unreliable. Inventory errors start becoming common due to potential duplicate entries, false entries, lack of coordination and collaboration. In order to keep manual systems running, you need to implement stringent working policies and rely on how well your employees comply with them.

The chances of making errors multiply depending on your selling volume, headcount, number of selling channels and SKUs. These errors lead to underselling, overselling and order fulfillment problems.

Inventory Control Challenges Faced By ecommerce Businesses

Here’s an example to illustrate the issues faced by online stores when selling across multiple platforms and relying on manual processes. Consider the case of a pet products store called Mandy’s.

Mandy’s is a fresh startup that has grown rapidly in the last few years. They recently started selling on multiple platforms and bought a second warehouse. Their expansion has contributed to their overall presence. Despite high demand from the market, their business is suffering due to internal setbacks. Upon analysis, Mandy’s found that inventory related troubles were at the root.

Here’s a list of management factors that Mandy’s needs to adopt to be in full control of their inventory:

#1 Know Order Fulfillment Status Across Multiple Platforms and Warehouses

It is critical to know whether your order fulfillment operations are on schedule or not. Processes like order pickup, packing and preparing for shipment turn out to be challenging if you don’t have a clear visibility into your operations. This gets especially challenging when selling on multiple online storefronts, because each of them need to be updated in real time.

Mandy’s found it quite difficult to navigate through multiple platforms like Amazon, eBay and Etsy. Add to that the challenge of managing stock across both of their warehouses. Accurate management of order fulfillment requires constant updates to stock after each order is placed.

#2 Underselling-Overselling, Understocking-Overstocking

Mandy’s started to either undersell or oversell their products due to lack of visibility. It was caused due to mistakes like improper bookkeeping, not performing timely inventory audits, work duplication and data entry errors.

Understocking and overstocking are caused by the same errors and demonstrate that businesses like Mandy’s need proper inventory control through automated software solutions that integrate physical operations with digital record keeping and automated information processing.

#3 Demand Forecasting

Demand forecasting is another area where most growing businesses like Mandy’s struggle. It is nearly impossible to devise insights using spreadsheets since they require you to use formulas every time you want to make sense of data. This leaves no way to be sure of tracking past sales trends and correlating them with current indicators.

#4 Managing Product Pricing And Sales

Mandy’s found that they needed product bundling capabilities which required them to make complex calculations. Marketplaces like Amazon also require sellers to change pricing dynamically depending on their competitor’s activity.

For instance, if a competitor is out of stock, you can increase your selling price without fearing the loss of sales. Conversely, you would need to lower your prices if your inventory has been sitting for long and is nearing its expiration date. This is where dedicated inventory tools come in handy.

#5 Coordinating With Logistics Partners

Logistics play an important role in determining a brand’s success. Logistics operators work under tight deadlines and you need to be ready with sales insights and be ready to ship products at the right time to ensure smooth order fulfillment.

Mandy’s found that returns processing and order tracking requests were consuming a huge chunk of its customer service staff’s time.

Having an inventory management and control system along with API-based integrations with third-party logistics partners can help solve this problem as your customers can track and return orders by themselves through a self-service portal.

Benefits Of Using An Inventory Management and Control Software For Online Sellers

An ecommerce inventory control solution can help address these concerns and help scale your business with the help of automation, standardization and the streamlining of your operations. To get a better understanding of the benefits offered by these solutions, have a look at the below section:

#1 Improved Productivity

Inventory software helps collect data, process information, delegate work and provide reporting. Inventory software can automate order processing, order pickup and packaging, returns processing and reporting analysis.

Your staff members only need to focus on their core work without worrying about documentation or other administrative formalities.

#2 Simplified Inventory Handling And Record Keeping

When using automated solutions, you no longer need to note down each and every transaction manually. You can turn the entire recordkeeping process digital by integrating a barcoding solution with your inventory software. This helps in tracking the exact location of stock within your storage facilities, order pickup and packaging, along with report building.

#3 Minimize Inventory Wastage

These solutions help order the right quantity of each SKU depending on historical demand and current trends. You no longer have to manually track how long inventory has been sitting in your storage facility and if you need to sell it due to expiration.

It will prompt you to clear aging inventory by creating a stock clearance sale, offering discounts or through product bundling. Thus, you can expect minimal inventory wastage as it helps order the right products and clear your stock at the right time in appropriate quantities at the right time.

#4 Improve Customer Experience

Without a dedicated solution, you can often miss delivery deadlines, send out expired products, fail to provide order shipping data and make returns a headache for your customers.

Without software, you aren’t able to confirm orders, may oversell items and wind up dealing with product backorders. With an ecommerce inventory management and control system, you can solve all of these problems and improve the customer experience by offering consumers transparency and control.

For instance, you can track a customer’s order history to identify repeated purchases over fixed intervals. You can send them order confirmations thereby streamlining operations on your end while improving the customer experience.

#5 Offer Visibility To Management

With the digitalization of all processes, insights and resource data, you get a clear picture of how your ecommerce business is performing and if it is facing any bottlenecks.

You can exercise greater control over your sales strategy, order fulfillment, warehousing, cash flow, sales trends, demand forecasting, inventory handling and marketing. Using an ecommerce suite helps unify all teams and orchestrate their efforts in concert to support your company’s growth.

#6 Improve Finances

Last but not least, you gain significant control over financial aspects such as total sales for a given period, taxes, compliance-related filings and all accounting recordkeeping. Software  facilitates inventory audits and plans out your expenses based on historical data. These solutions take the guesswork out of the equation offering a better understanding of your business finances.

How To Find The Right ecommerce Inventory Management and Control Software

Here’s a simple step-by-step overview to finding the right ecommerce inventory management software for your business:

  1. Understand your priorities and the areas where you are currently struggling
  2. Conduct a detailed market survey to get a hands-on understanding of available options
  3. Scrutinize the available solutions and determine the customizations your specific business requires
  4. Analyze the learning curve for your staff members
  5. List third party integrations required and check their compatibility
  6. Check out user reviews to weigh pros and cons
  7. Involve stakeholders and prepare for onboarding

Summing Up

It is evident that ecommerce inventory management software provides you with the ability to manage and scale your operations methodically. In the absence of such solutions, it becomes extremely difficult to operate since you have little to zero visibility of your organization, its expenses and technical difficulties. Meanwhile, your staff continues to struggle with productivity issues due to errors and manual data entry.

The right ecommerce inventory management and control software helps streamline all aspects of your online selling business and increases your bottom line. If you need further guidance on ecommerce inventory management solutions for your business, get in touch with Cin7 now!

6 Questions to Ask When Choosing an Inventory Management System

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Gone are the days when inventory was managed through manual stock takes and Excel spreadsheets. Today, various inventory management systems track inventory levels, demand, forecast, etc. When choosing an inventory management system for your business needs, here are a few questions you need to ask yourself to select the right option for your business.

 

#1. What is the Current Size of Your Business?

The first important question is to know what size and stage of growth your business is in. If your business is small, paying a lot of money for an inventory management solution would not be worth the investment. Until your yearly sales are over about $100k, a spreadsheet is enough for your inventory needs. If your projections predict imminent growth past $100k, begin to start looking at inventory solutions.

However, many SMBs having yearly sales between $100k and $100 million find that their inventory complexity is alleviated with a robust inventory solution.

#2. What is Your Budget?

Take your time to define your budget: inventory management systems range from free to six figures. If you know the investment you’re able to make, it’s much easier to refine your search to a few offerings that best suit your budget, size and operational capacity.

With huge variation in price comes a significant variation in quality and capability. So, make sure you invest wisely by doing your homework.

#3. What Kind of Inventory Management Software Does Your Business Need?

You must have a clear idea of your business needs. The mode of operation of each business is different. For instance, if you run a clothing store, the areas you may need help with are going to be different from a restaurant.

The specific needs of the business must be taken into consideration. If you need software that helps print barcodes for your products, check if you can get one that offers you both inventory management and barcode printing.

#4. What Challenges do you Need to Solve?

If you buy an inventory management solution, make sure you know what problems the tool will solve. It’s important to be familiar with successful inventory processes and the challenges that prevent growth.

Knowing the problems you’re trying to solve will make it easier to ask the right questions when choosing an inventory management system.

#5. What Integrations do you Need?

Any good inventory management system like Cin7 will connect with the tools your business uses daily. For instance, multichannel sales through eBay, Amazon and other online marketplaces must be supported so that you can monitor inventory across third-party sales channels.

You also want to connect your accounting software like Xero or QuickBooks. Seamless integration with eCommerce platforms like Shopify, Magento or BigCommerce is necessary for an online store. The right solution will help you manage every product, order and customer in one place and across multiple stores.

#6. Who Will Use the System?

To fit your business and your team’s requirements, it’s essential to know who will be accessing the system. With a cloud-based inventory management system, any employee or business partner can gain up-to-date information without emails, texts or phone calls to double-check orders. The system has it all.

Cin7 is Your Best Bet as Inventory Management Software

With the above six questions at your disposal, you are on course to determine the best inventory management solution for your business. Cin7’s cloud based software can handle all the needs of any company, size or industry.

Our system offers countless more features than any other standard inventory management system. Not only does Cin7 offer inventory management, but it also assists you with accounting, sales, POS, purchasing, manufacturing and eCommerce.

We have proudly assisted thousands of clients from around the globe to move their business forward. Our dedicated service team is always available to help you answer any questions you have.

7 Advanced Technologies That are Redefining eCommerce

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The global pandemic has changed our way of living, shopping and socializing. We are compelled to shop digitally for most things and mobile phones have made that much easier. Some online sellers have benefited from the global pandemic.

Existing eCommerce businesses are looking forward to infusing their sites with the latest technologies and tools. Startups are eager for the latest technologies and trends to begin their game.

It can be easily said that advanced eCommerce technologies have redefined the online landscape forever and will continue to do so.

What is eCommerce?

eCommerce (electronic commerce) refers to the buying and selling of goods or services VIA the Internet and the transfer of money and data to execute them.

eCommerce is often referred to as the sale of physical products online, but it also describes any commercial transaction facilitated via the internet.

E-business refers to all the aspects that operate an online business and eCommerce refers to transactions of goods and services.

Types of eCommerce Businesses

There are mainly four types of eCommerce models that would describe almost every transaction taking place between consumers and businesses:

  • Business to Consumer (B2C)
  • Business to Business (B2B)
  • Consumer to Consumer (C2C)
  • Consumer to Business (C2B)

 

Advanced Technologies That are Redefining eCommerce

As the eCommerce industry sees rampant growth with technology at the helm, let’s have a look at seven advanced technologies that are enabling its growth:

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#1. Payment Gateway Technology or Online Transaction Processing (OLTP)

OLTP is an information system that facilitates and manages transaction-oriented applications. With some of the latest and most secure online transaction processing technologies, OLTP  creates secure payment gateways and a myriad of money transfer methods for boosting eCommerce.

Digital wallets are the best and most often used example of advanced OLTP technologies.

Digital wallets make payment transactions quick, simple and secure for everyone regardless of Internet connection (wired, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, mobile).

#2. mCommerce

When we talk about mCommerce, it means mobile commerce. mCommerce shopping happens VIA smart devices and is becoming one of the most lucrative eCommerce niches.

Advanced technologies that redefine eCommerce include mobile marketing. Most customers prefer to use their mobile devices for online business.

Competitors may take advantage of mCommerce to acquire more customers who prefer the mobile eCommerce niche. As this niche expands, poor mobile execution or no mobile at all will cause companies to lose out in the market.

Big or small, you can use mobile apps to advance the course of your business. You can provide a seamless experience to your customers by making use of excellent apps. Always use apps that make their shopping easier and fun-loving.

#3. Supply Chain Management (SCM)

SCM has developed over time to support manufacturing and globalization. Today, we live in a specialization era where SCM is available as-a-service.

The role of supply chain management technology is more evident in eCommerce and has given birth to various online portals for B2B, B2C, C2C, and C2B like-business models. SCM influences both pre-production and post-production to ease stressed supply chains.

Manufacturing and blockchain technologies are also emerging as revolutionary new technologies in SCM for eCommerce.

The booming eCommerce industry, even post-pandemic, has led to warehouse and labor shortages nationwide, making it difficult to secure staff and space. As a result, warehousing costs are on the rise, including the prices of 4PL services.

Investing in integrated technologies in the form of cloud-native warehouse management may be helpful. Third and fourth party logistics providers (3PL, 4PL) are highly adaptable and allow you to scale and pivot operations quickly.

Investing in warehouse-as-a-service from an outsourced logistics provider gains access to both employees and state-of-the-art warehouse technology costing a fraction of what it would cost to develop your own warehouse.

#4. Artificial Intelligence

AI or Artificial Intelligence is everywhere, and eCommerce is no exception as sellers strive to give their shoppers personalized experiences. Personalization technologies are highly dependent on AI.

Also, real-time and automated chatbots are a craze in the eCommerce industry. Chat software relies on AI technologies to respond intelligently to consumer inquiries.

#5. Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

Electronic data interchange technology allows eCommerce businesses to exchange information that was historically shared on paper.

For example, eCommerce shoppers and merchants enjoy automatically placing orders, generating invoices and tracking the entire shipping process.

EDI’s high standards have made the order-making process and receiving goods VIA online shopping stress-free. Now, customers can place orders, receive invoices and goods automatically and hassle-free.

#6. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)

EFT technology has seen recent improvements like encryption-like technologies that enhance its security. EFTs have reduced our over reliance on physical banks.

Direct debit, withdrawals and deposits for payments, e-bill payments and instant payments are some e-payment options. They determine our concurrent financial activities.

The annual report of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) supports the visible growth of EFT technology in the economy and its positive impact on eCommerce.

#7. Blockchain

There is a lot of controversy around blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. Blockchain technology is gaining trust as a method for online payments and for its concept of a distributed genuine ledger of all digital transactions.

Blockchain ensures transparency, security and decentralization making it an attractive option for accepting online payments. Payments and exchanges with fiat currencies take more time and are costlier; hence cryptocurrencies are becoming popular. You can make shipping ‘smarter’ by providing encryption in deliveries using blockchain.

The future of the eCommerce marketplace will be blockchain-driven and it will transform the industry.

Cin7 Inventory and Order Management Software

Cin7 understands that tracking orders, inventory levels, sales and shipments are critical business phases. Our inventory management software helps your online business eliminate overstocking and stock outages.

We offer attractive features like reorder points, service management, asset tracking, product identification and inventory optimization.

ERP inventory and order management technologies are meant for enterprises. Our inventory management software leverages the cloud and offers several benefits like cost efficiency, data updates, warehouse management and real-time analysis.

Our cloud inventory management technologies enable inventory management across multiple sales channels and multi-location warehouses.

“How Cin7 saves us $130,000 a year.”

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Jennifer Xidias on how Cin7’s inventory management integrations saves Peta+Jain time and hundreds of thousands of dollars, every year.

One of the most quantifiable things in my decision to go with Cin7 as my software choice was not only its futuristic focus, but also the amount we could save on our IT spend.

 

Most companies allocate a spend for marketing or IT improvements. We spend a lot of money on marketing. As one of Australia’s fastest-growing fashion companies, we have to keep relevant with competing brands. Unfortunately, because of Covid-19, everything was postponed.

So, when I was looking for an inventory management solution, I needed a good IT product that suited what we did and was great value for money.

Cin7 is that product. It has seriously saved us about $130k this year alone, through not having to employ extra warehouse and admin staff. And when it comes to time savings, with our Shopify, The Iconic and Starshipit integrations now operational, it saves hours every day not having to key in the data manually or create spreadsheets to import.

 

Over the last 12 months, orders through our own website (powered by Shopify) and the Iconic Marketplace have steadily grown, from around an average of 50 orders per week to well over 200 per week. At sale times, this can reach around 100 per day.

Before Cin7, we were manually entering the shipping details into Australia Post and Excel to create consignments and picking lists, and then updating the tracking numbers in The Iconic and Shopify. As you can see, this was extremely labour-intensive during peak volume times!

We then moved to downloading the orders and creating spreadsheets to upload into Australia Post and update the tracking numbers. This was less labour intensive, but still a time-consuming process. It would still take at least one hour of time twice a day for the warehouse to just do the paperwork. The other downside of this system was that someone would generally have to then key all of the Shopify and The Iconic orders into MYOB to remove the stock and record the sale. This could then take at least another hour of time per day or if 100 orders, several hours.

The last issue that we had was that we would then have to remove The Iconic invoices every two weeks, and re-key their invoice to align with the actual statement from The Iconic, so that our records matched with what we were getting paid.

 

Our Cin7 implementation has removed all these issues. With our new, automated workflow, we’re saving at least 30 hours a fortnight. Also, with Cin7 integrating directly with The Iconic, reconciling orders from that channel only requires a two-second journal, each fortnight, to take up the commission amounts as all orders and stock are automatically taken care of. This makes for an additional saving of three hours a fortnight.

As well as the colossal time saving, we’re also saving $130,000 a year on not having to hire employees to do hours of tedious work. If we hadn’t used Cin7 to integrate our systems to deal with our rapid growth, and replace those manual processes, we would have required an additional two employees (one in the warehouse, and one admin person) to assist with all of the paperwork. Shopify and The Iconic are only part of our business, and we’d still need to deal with all of the other wholesale customer orders each day, and pack and ship their orders too.

The cost of each additional employee is approximately $65k per year, which gives us a cost saving of $130k a year.

The Cin7, Iconic, Shopify and Starshipit integrations give the warehouse manager and I approximately two day’s worth of time per week to concentrate on other parts of our business, without having to get other staff. I love Cin7. I think it’s a fantastic product.