The ins and outs of good stock management

Something that all retailers are going to have to be concerned about is ensuring that they are properly taking care of their stock at all times. If you are not looking after your stock, then that basically amounts to not looking after your money or your customers, so clearly it is hugely important that you try to focus on improving this as best as you can.

If you can set up a good stock management process from the very start, however, then you should find that you are going to be able to have much more luck in all realms of your retail business, so it really is of central importance that you pay attention to this as best as you can. In this article, we are going to take a look in some detail at how to try and ensure you have a good stock management procedure, so that you can hopefully see the many benefits that will come from having it.

In all cases, you are going to want to make sure that you appoint someone to be stock controller - and that person can’t be just anyone. It needs to be someone that you really trust with the procedure, and there are certain qualities that you are going to want to look out for in particular here to make sure that they are going to be the right person for the job in the first place.

A good stock controller needs to have an intelligent way about them, a strong head for figures, and the ability to keep a lot of things in track in their head at once. Of course, they will be using a lot of computer assistance for this too, so they don’t have to be mathematical geniuses, but that does mean that a good ability to use technology is also going to be important here too.

If you are struggling to find someone to appoint as stock controller, you might want to think about starting up a training course for that very role. It is the kind of thing that you will find you want as many people as possible to be able to do to at least some degree.

That way, you are not relying on just one controller, and when they are sick or on holiday your other staff can also do their bit towards stock control. So you should think about offering training in stock control for anyone who wants it - or who has their sights set on the job in the future at some point - and from that you can appoint the person you feel is the best at the job.

Once you have the right stock controller in their place, you will find that you can relax more and feel much more certain about the state and future of your stock. But there are still other things that you are going to want to consider, and which you will have to stress the importance of to your staff more widely too.

The issue of shrinkage

This is probably the number one concern that you are going to have with regard to your stock, and you need to make sure that you are doing anything in your power to manage it and master it. First of all, you need to know what it is. Shrinkage is the word for the collective loss of stock by means unknown. Whereas waste is when you lose stock because of something that you were aware of, shrinkage is loss that you are struggling to account for.

However, even though you might not know exactly where it has all gone, you can probably work out roughly what it happening most of the time, and that is one of the many jobs that the stock controller will have to focus on in their daily job.

There are common culprits for shrinkage which you will need to take into account. The most common cause of shrinkage is theft by staff, followed by theft by customers. So you need to make sure that you are doing whatever you can to discourage this behaviour in your staff first and foremost, and also in your customers. How can you do that?

Mostly, this is a matter of making it clear in a gentle but firm way that you are watching. The mere act of being obviously on top of your stock control will show that not much is going to get past you, and that will help to deter people from stealing your stock. You should also make it clear that you don’t put up with it when it does happen, and if you do catch someone stealing, you should not give them any leeway, but just fire them immediately. That will send a strong message indeed.

Do all that, and your shrinkage should be lower. But you’ll also have to think about reducing waste.

Waste

This is something that is often the scourge of the stock controller’s life, as it is so hard to keep under control. Waste is any stock that needs to be thrown away or otherwise discarded, whether as a result of damage, expiration or whatever else it might be.

You want to make sure that you keep this as low as possible, for the sake of your profits and the planet. That means storing cold food in the best cooling systems by the likes of MTA Australia and ensuring that room temperature food is kept at room temperature. It also means handling stock with care at all times.

As long as you can do this, you will be able to keep waste low, and that will mean that you are in a much better position on the whole to take care of your finances and many other parts of your business too. Clearly, this is all going to be important if you hope to master your stock management in good time, so make sure that you don’t overlook any of it.