A full annual inventory can seem like a very daunting task as a whole. However, prep planning will break down the steps and make the full process less overwhelming. These steps will increase your count accuracy, reduce the time you spend counting, and lead you to a successful inventory overall.

Who & When
In planning for your prep, schedule your inventory day far enough in advance that you give yourself plenty of time to prep. A good practice is to have 30-45 days to prep. It is ideal to schedule your count at a time that will not be busy in your location.

Plan the team that will be doing the prep and counting. When selecting counters, choose seasoned employees as well as those who can provide fresh eyes. A key part of planning your staff, is communicating with them the importance of their role in the overall success of the inventory. Share with your team the tasks they are assigned, and create a centralized location for tracking progress of the prep.

Organize

A majority of your prep work, will be organizing your product. Make a map your that includes dates that each section is expected to be ready to count. Assign members of the team that will prep and count each section. If you have a warehouse, it is best to start there, as your team will be able to maintain the prep work once it is done. If you have freezer/refrigerators or off-site inventory, don’t forget these in your map and timelines.

Identify

Identify what it will take to organize your product for counting day. Locate items without barcodes and decide if you will generate and affix barcodes, or prep them on a manual count sheet. Designate a space or sign that will clearly identify items that will not be counted. Any defective or obsolete product should be disposed off and removed from the count area and written off from the system quantity. It is important that any receivings/transfers are frozen and staged in an area that has been designated to not be counted inventory day.

How will you count

Establish with your team how you will conduct your inventory count. Traditionally, physical counts are done with pen and paper. While this can get the job done, it requires an extra step for someone to enter all the data. Using a scanner app, will make counting your inventory a breeze. The app will sync completed counts with your POS so once you’re done counting, you can easily update your stock levels.

Using an Inventory application or device

Using an inventory application or device enables you to complete your inventory count from a handheld device, sometimes even using your phone & its camera to scan. This saves you the time of working with manual counting sheets. This process will require the use of a fully charged device or maybe a wifi connected phone. When planning your prep, you’ll want to include the set up of your device. It is also a good idea to practice with the device or app prior to count day, and review the steps and best practices with your team.

Food and Drinks for your team

You’ll want to keep your team happy and efficient on inventory day. It is a tedious process, so keeping them on top of their game will be an important part of your planning. Have water, coffee, maybe some pizza or snacks on hand. This will also boost their morale and increase their attention to detail on this important task.

Day of the count

Pre-designate a person that will oversee the flow of the count. Making notations on sections as they are complete is a great way to avoid double counting. Double checking and auditing counts as sections are complete, will be a good idea before updating stock levels. Avoid postponing inventory checks, as the best time to do it, is while everything is fresh in mind.

After the count

Pull up your inventory reports and analyze the data to see what can be done to improve your business. Use this information to identify high risk zones, and adjust standard practices to minimize losses in these areas. A good practice to adopt would be to have frequent cycle counts of areas or items that show significant discrepancies. This will help you in identifying trends within your business.

Smooth and painless inventory days are no accident. Details planned well in advance will help you be prepared and have a more accurate count, and with less stress. Making sure you have the right tools, the right people, and the right plan will help you have a successful day.

If you liked this blog you might be interested in our previous article on this topics as well

 

In retail location matters, and brick and mortar retailers spend a lot of time and resources in getting new customers to walk in their stores,  but that is just the beginning; keeping customers coming back is the key to operating a successful retail operation. Here are some tips on how to do that

Brand awareness

Let’s start here,  keep reminding them where they are – have associates greet them by using your store name “ Welcome to (store name);  Can I help you find something?” Remind them where they are whenever possible – Thank you for shopping at (store name); try to use shopping bags, digital receipts where your store name is prominently displayed. Whenever possible use preprinted hangtags or if you don’t want to invest in them – try a stamp or sticker with your name and logo.

Exceed expectations

Here is a low-cost value add for your customers, have associates be aware of surprising customers with random acts of kindness (I don’t mean give away free product or discounts) – taking time to carefully package items, spending a little more time to make sure the customer experience is curated for the customer.

Inventory transparency

Provide accurate information to the customer or product availability. Give associates the tools to know what’s in stock, what’s on the way in and when it can be expected.  Pay particular attention to your product mix and train your associates on complimentary and replacement product.

Value your relationships

Loyalty and club programs (especially experienced based ones) are the cornerstone of retail – Club programs can range from simple pricing discounts like grocery stores offer or experience-based ones that many airlines focus on. One of my favorite example of a club program is a neighborhood restaurant who has a point system for visits and once you get to a certain level – they guarantee you a table anytime – I’ve seen them set up temporarily set up tables for their top customers even when fully sold out – I’m sure that those customers feel the restaurant always value their relationship.

Last but by no means least

Get online

Consumers want easy access to their favorite stores, have an online site that has accurate information on products and inventory levels (ideally connected to your inventory system) and tied to your POS (so customers have one view into all their activity). This allows customers to view product, make purchases and even process returns at their convenience.

Keep the shopping process simple yet enriching is what will keep them coming back. Keep reminding the customer where they are (frequency of impression is real) and have your associates stay focused on providing a quality experience. These are some simple yet inexpensive ways in driving return activity.

To begin with – Get to really know your customer!

If you are using a POS management software like retailcloud, you can get an in-depth understanding of your customer preferences,  what their ideal product mix is, what their tendencies are, maybe even who their favorite employees are

Having this type of insight will allow you to create a more customer centric approach to your emails,  ultimately improving your conversion rates and allowing you to target your product mix more specifically for your customers.

Online retailers gather every bit of customer data, their clicks what they looked at what they bought and what they abandoned, this may overwhelm you if you are not collecting any data today but time is on your side- start with a 3 simple things to get you started

1. Add a customer to each sale – this will allow you to ultimately generate reports on their preferences and give you insight to your MVC (Most Valuable Customers).
2. Consider a loyalty or club program, reward customers for giving you’re their permission to track their sales – consider experience-based rewards (early access to new or sales products for example) or club pricing (there is a reason supermarkets with their low margins do it).
3. Launch a connected ecommerce site that customers can see your products and inventory on hand, use it to for cross promotions (online and instore) and most importantly make sure you can see all the combined data in one view.

These are just basic steps, if you are already using your retail CRM and would like a more indepth discussion on how to use preference marketing to drive additional sales (especially add-ons) email me at jordan@retailcloud.com.

According to a recent infographic from Community Merchants USA, 66 percent of all point-of-sales (POS) transactions are done with plastic – credit, debit, or gift cards. As we all know, there are VISA/MC and association fees that must be paid by the retailers to accept credit cards. A major trend in many industries is to pass on the expense to the customer at the time of the sales transaction. Tacking a small percent onto each sale, can result in a significant savings for the business.

Are Cash Discounts right for you and your customers? Here are pros and cons that can help you decide.

PROS OF A CASH DISCOUNT PROGRAM

Reduce Fees – Obviously, the biggest pro is reducing or eliminating card processing fees associated with accepting credit cards. If you don’t process cards, you don’t have to pay for the service.  

Easier to implement and explain than a credit card surcharge  – Another way some merchants pay for card processing is to assess a surcharge on products bought with a credit card.  There is sometimes push back. For instance, it’s illegal to add a card processing surcharge in 11 states. Implementing a cash discount, though, is legal everywhere.  And it’s pretty easy to explain that all items in the store are priced with a built-in service fee, but that the fee is deducted if you pay with cash.

Encourages cash payments – Although many people prefer credit cards, a cash discount may encourage a customer to use cash instead of a card for their purchase. These means less time between the sale and when you have access to the funds. There is no processing time or wait period for cash in your hand.  Plus you eliminate some fraud exposure.

Reduce chargebacks  – With fewer people using cards in your store, it’s likely the number of chargebacks will also decrease. If this has been a problem for your business, this decrease may actually help reduce the card fees you do pay, because you’d be perceived as less of a risk.

CONS OF A CASH DISCOUNT PROGRAM

Some customers may not carry cash – Lots of people simply don’t carry cash anymore. Expecting to use ApplePay, some shop armed with just their phone. And if a customer is opposed to making a purchase without getting a discount, they may walk out without buying anything.  You could experience a drop in sales volume.

Conspicuous signage – To offer cash discounts, you must post what the law refers to as “conspicuous signage” throughout your place of business to let customers know they can receive a discount if they pay by cash or gift card rather than using a credit card. Also, while expressed as a discount and not as a fee, some customers may view the posted “offer” in a negative light.

Implementation – To be compliant with a cash discount program, your receipts must clearly reflect that there is a service charge on items and that that service charge was removed for a cash payment. That means revising your POS system software.  Plus you’ll want to be sure you follow any changes in the laws around cash discounts in the future to avoid any penalties.

Potential Drop in Sales  – Studies have show that consumers spend more when using their credit cards. If cash appears to be a more attractive option in terms of managing credit card processing fees, be aware that it could end up discouraging and depressing your overall sales results.

If you chose to implement a cash discount program, make sure you go into it with your eyes open. Follow the rules closely to avoid issues and penalties, and be sure to evaluate the success of the program against any declines in sales you may experience to be sure the program is working for you.