The holiday season is easily the busiest time of year for many retail businesses. It’s an excellent opportunity to showcase everything you have to offer and bring in new products to see how they sell. However, the excitement probably wears off when you think about managing all that inventory.
Don’t relinquish. With some preparation, you can easily oversee your inventory during the holiday season and glide through this crazy time.
Here is our advice on how to meet your customers’ expectations while staying sane.
Perform demand forecasting
If you were trading last holiday season, you should already have some significant indications about what you’ll need this year. Pull out your historical sales data and revise it.
Review your sales and use that information as your leading guide. What items sold quickly that you could have purchased more of? Also, consider what you thought would sell last year but didn’t. If things are still sitting on the shelf from the previous year, devise a plan to clear those items at a reasonable cost. If items took months to sell last year, consider ordering less or trying something completely new.
Make sure to set sales targets for the upcoming holiday season based on how well your business performed last year and order more of what you’ll need.
It’s vital to consider trending products as well. For example, face masks probably won’t sell as well as they did in 2020. Identify your most popular holiday products from last year and see if they differ from those that sell out year-round.
As you work through, make sure you identify any skewed data. Unusual events such as bad weather (or a global pandemic) may have stopped people from visiting your store and affected your sales or alternatively created a short-term demand for an item that’s no longer as necessary.
Check your physical inventory
If you haven’t performed a physical inventory count in a while, some housekeeping may be needed to ensure you have the stock you think you do.
Ideally, you should perform a complete physical inventory audit every six months. This should be on top of regular checks of your stock so your system is always accurate.
If you haven’t completed a physical inventory check in a while, now is a perfect time. Tidy up, organise things, and check your digital inventory against your physical stock. As impressive as the technology is, errors can still occur, which may result in you having less stock on hand than you thought.
This is the time to correct any inventory variances, not when an agitated last-minute shopper stands at your register, upset that your website showed a product as being in stock.
If you have multiple locations, try to utilise any extra stock from one location to replenish what’s lacking at another. However, remember that there could be a reason why a particular item doesn’t sell at certain locations.
This is the time to ensure you have the products available for sale. A bit of planning will pay off when the shoppers start coming in.
Get your orders in
The holiday season is notorious for slow customer service responses and shipping delays.
Once you’ve established your demand forecasting and counted your physical inventory, place your stock orders as early as possible. Because any potential issues have been identified early, you’ll know exactly what’s needed to fill any gaps.
The earlier you complete this, the better. Customers who can always buy what they need when they need it are more likely to return. By planning in advance, you can predict the needs of your business and receive the stock in time.
Engage with your customers
Social media is one of the most remarkable developments for a small retail business. By using social media, you have the capability to show your customers what’s in store. You’re more likely to attract customers by showcasing your holiday items.
This is also an excellent opportunity to ask customers what they would like to see in-store! Engage with your followers to see if they missed out on anything they wanted last year. As the holidays start ramping up, use social media as a way to gauge what you’re customers are looking forward to this year.
Final thoughts
Inventory can get complicated, especially during the holidays. But it’s also a great time for your retail business to shine. Be prepared, and look to previous data for clues. Don’t forget to ask your customers what they want this holiday season. Follow the steps above, and you’ll easily move through the holiday season.
If you have any questions, feel free to Join the conversation…