The golden question for any webshop. Frankly, this is pretty tricky. To this day, we can't really see into the mind of the consumer, but data allows us to determine the right course of action.
ShopWeDo has a self-learning algorithm that considers various dates and tells you when to order which products and quantities. For new customers, we can determine this after only 3 weeks!
Not a ShopWeDo customer yet? Or want to take the test yourself? Here are the three most influential factors to consider in your inventory management:
Demand level: if suppliers have long delivery times, you often have to take out your crystal ball to estimate how much you need to order. Then take a look at how many orders come into your webshop on average per month. How does this compare to the best sales months? Which products sell out fastest during a peak?
Turnaround: of course you prefer to buy as late as possible to make sure you don't have too much stock stored, but you also don't want to risk being constantly sold out.
So calculate the average time the product sits on the shelf and compare this with your delivery times.
In addition, you should keep in mind that expensive products tend to have a slower turnover.
With trendy items, you have to estimate when the trend would decline.
Tip: on average, a trend lasts 1 to 2 seasons.
Inventory efficiency: it is crucial not only to order inventory, but also to ensure that you can manage it effectively within your working capital. This is where calculating stock efficiency comes in handy. This percentage is calculated per product and is based on the gross profit of the product versus the average inventory value. Using this information, along with the turnover rate, you can determine how much inventory fits optimally within your working capital.
At ShopWeDo e-fulfilment, you can easily manage and control all these factors using our algorithm, order and inventory overview.
In addition, we also have our 20 years of e-commerce experience that you can always count on if you have any questions.
Ready to stop making this calculation yourself and have your logistics process managed by a company that specializes in it?
Request a free quote today and discover all the benefits!