Inventory Management: Reducing Supply Costs

Inventory management is an important part of any business, as it helps to ensure that you have the right amount of stock on hand to meet customer demand.

It also helps to reduce supply costs, as you can avoid overstocking or understocking.

In this guide, we’ll look at how to get started with inventory management, the best practices for reducing supply costs, and some examples of successful inventory management.

Getting Started with Inventory Management

The first step in inventory management is to determine what items you need to stock.

This will depend on the type of business you have, as well as the demand for your products.

Once you have a list of items, you can start to track the quantity of each item in your inventory.

This can be done manually or with an inventory management system.

You should also consider the cost of each item, as this will help you to determine how much you should be stocking.

You should also consider the lead time for each item, as this will help you to plan ahead and ensure that you have the right amount of stock on hand when it’s needed.

How To Reduce Supply Costs

Once you have a good understanding of your inventory, you can start to look for ways to reduce supply costs.

Here are some tips for reducing supply costs:

Negotiate better prices with suppliers.
Reduce the amount of stock you keep on hand.
Optimize your ordering process.
Take advantage of bulk discounts.
Reduce waste and spoilage.
Implement just-in-time inventory management.

Tools to help you get started

ShipBob — ShipBob is a global logistics platform that fulfills ecommerce orders for direct-to-consumer brands.
Shopify — Everything you need to start, run and scale your business.
Vend Point of Sale — Vend is a cloud-based point of sale system that helps retailers manage their stores, track sales, and grow their business. It offers features like inventory management, customer loyalty, and analytics to help retailers succeed.
ShipMonk — Ecommerce fulfillment for high-growth brands. ShipMonk helps your brand unlock scalable growth with our powerful 3PL software and fulfillment centers.
Fulfillment Bridge — Simplify your eCommerce fulfillment, get closer to customers with our global warehouses and reduce shipping costs & time from one platform.
Orderbot — Order management & orchestration made easy
Veeqo — All in one ecommerce shipping software. Cut the cost and time it takes to fulfill orders with low shipping rates, automation and hassle-free fulfillment tools.
DEAR Inventory — Manage your entire inventory process from purchasing to sales with Dear’s inventory management software – the perfect solution for growing businesses.
TradeGecko — Stay on top of your business with #1 Inventory and Order Management Software.
Coupa — Coupa Purchase Order Management helps you streamline your procurement process. Automate PO creation, approval, and tracking to reduce manual effort and ensure compliance. Get real-time visibility into spend and supplier performance.
Unleashed Software — Unleashed is inventory management software that helps businesses save time and money. It provides real-time visibility of stock levels, automates ordering, and integrates with accounting and eCommerce platforms. It’s the perfect solution for businesses of all sizes.
Lightspeed Point of Sale — Future-proof your business with Lightspeed’s POS software. The one-stop commerce platform that helps your business simplify, scale and thrive.
ShipHawk — ShipHawk is a shipping and logistics platform that helps businesses save time and money on shipping. It offers automated shipping, real-time tracking, and analytics to help businesses streamline their shipping process.
JAGGAER — JAGGAER’s all-in-one software platform revolutionizes procurement by giving users full control and visibility. Transform procurement in your supply chain.
OrderCup — OrderCup is an all-in-one ecommerce platform that helps small businesses manage orders, shipping, payments, and more. It offers features like automated order processing, shipping label printing, and integrated payments. It’s easy to use and helps businesses save time and money.
SellerActive — SellerActive is the best multichannel e-commerce management tool on the market. Automate, optimize and expand your business!
inFlow Inventory — Get an unfair advantage with inFlow Inventory management software. A complete system to run your small business used by 1000’s. Click for your FREE trial!
Brightpearl — This guide to Order Management Systems (OMS) highlights the features and benefits of our best-in-breed software offering, and how it can help your business!
BigCommerce — Learn how BigCommerce powers your business with enterprise ecommerce capabilities—with lower cost and complexity.
Katana Cloud Manufacturing
Clover Point of Sale — Clover is a POS system that helps businesses run more efficiently. It offers features like inventory tracking, employee management, and customer loyalty programs, all in one easy-to-use platform. Get the tools you need to succeed and grow your business.
Shipwire — Shipwire, a CEVA Logistics company, is a world leader in fulfillment and logistics. Global network of warehouses with advanced fulfillment technology
Magento Order Management — Magento Order Management helps businesses streamline their order fulfillment processes. It automates order taking, inventory management, and customer service, while providing real-time visibility into orders and inventory across all channels.
OrderEase — A complete online B2B ordering solution for wholesalers, retailers and buying groups utilizing online product catalogs and a centralized order hub for faster more accurate ordering.
Fulfillment by Amazon — Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) helps businesses reach more customers, increase sales, and reduce shipping costs. Sellers can store their products in Amazon’s fulfillment centers, and Amazon will pick, pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products.
UpKeep — OnUpkeep is a powerful, easy-to-use maintenance management platform that helps you save time, money, and resources.
HighJump Warehouse Management System — HighJump Warehouse Management System (WMS) is a comprehensive, end-to-end solution that helps you optimize your warehouse operations. It provides real-time visibility, control and automation of your entire warehouse, from receiving to shipping. It helps you reduce costs, improve accuracy and increase customer satisfaction.
ChannelAdvisor — Streamline your e-commerce operations, expand to new channels and grow sales — all from a centralized platform.
Epos Now — EPOS Now makes it easy to run, manage, and grow your business with our complete point-of-sale system.
Invoice Ninja — Invoice Ninja is an online invoicing and time tracking software that helps small businesses get paid faster. It’s easy to use, secure, and free for up to 3 clients. Create invoices, track time, and accept payments online.

Best Practices for Inventory Management

In addition to reducing supply costs, there are some best practices that you should follow when managing your inventory.

Here are some tips for successful inventory management:

Track inventory levels regularly.
Set up an inventory management system.
Analyze inventory data to identify trends.
Set up safety stock levels.
Review inventory levels regularly.
Implement a reorder point system.

Examples of Successful Inventory Management

To get an idea of how successful inventory management can be, here are some examples of businesses that have implemented successful inventory management strategies:

Amazon: Amazon has implemented an automated inventory management system that tracks inventory levels in real-time and adjusts stock levels accordingly.
Walmart: Walmart has implemented a just-in-time inventory management system that helps to reduce costs and ensure that stock levels are always accurate.
Apple: Apple has implemented a sophisticated inventory management system that helps to ensure that products are always in stock and that customers can get the products they need when they need them.