Manage seasonal inventory without a hassle... Whether you’re an e-commerce seller or brick-and-mortar store retailer, staying on top of your inventory game can be quite a challenge. And if you’re dealing with seasonal inventory, then your inventory management skills need to be a notch higher. Seasonal inventory is stock which is in demand during specific periods of time like the holidays and the different seasons. Seasonal inventory management isn’t the same as managing inventory of products that sell throughout the year. With such product categories, managers need to be proactive in efficiently buying and handling their stock. Proper identification of seasonal products and subsequent planning with regard to their buying is key here. Not only this but making the necessary preparations for your inventory management system is important too. This can save time, money and confusion when the time arrives to reset warehouse racks and retail shelves for the upcoming season. So here are a few specialized ways to tackle seasonal inventory management. Identify and Segment Seasonal Products First and foremost, you need to identify and tag your merchandise. You can categorize by season, year, or peak periods. This can help you in a plethora of ways as having a clear idea about current season’s inventory is important to maintain inventory turnover and to prevent over-ordering in the next season as well. For example, when you have to re-order for next summer season, knowing how many dresses and shorts you already have in stock will enable more accurate re-ordering. Markdown Peak Periods The next step after identifying the seasonal merchandise in your inventory is to analyze when they are most in demand. This can be done by looking into previous sales data and purchase history of those products. Due to the dynamic nature of the fashion industry, demand for fashion changes with time. What sells in summer will not sell in winter. You must have a structured demand forecasting plan of what sells when and in what quantity for efficient seasonal inventory management. You need to have a proper plan in place in order to clear out space in your warehouse for incoming items. Mark down those peak periods and schedule reorder patterns accordingly. For example, raincoats will be in demand during monsoon months but you will probably have to order them mid-summer so that by the time monsoon arrives, you have your stock ready for sale. Don’t forget the Slack Months While figuring out the peak season, it is sensible to make note of the slack period too. The slack period will give sellers time to get their seasonal inventory ready for the upcoming season. If you are a manufacturer, making your own apparel, then it’s a good time to start producing an entire season in advance. With this, you also need to set the ideal time regarding both the commencement and end of sales. A good time would be just 2-3 weeks before the season is about to end. This is when you should start rolling out your discounts, offers and package deals in order to liquidate your seasonal inventory to an optimum level. Remember, don’t wait until the end of the season as your rivals will also be trying to get rid of their seasonal inventory during the rush hour. Reorder Wisely You can predict the demand for particular products during peak season by looking closely at past sales data. This will help you in gleaning much information about which are your bestsellers and products that did not make the cut. For example, if boots were the showstoppers last winter, it would make sense to purchase more stock for boots in the coming season. However, there’s a catch here. If last year boots were in fashion, this year it could be shoes that are all the rage. Thus, ordering much of boots will be a waste. Another important thing, if you have an advertising strategy to hype up your seasonal inventory, then make sure you have enough stocks on your store shelves. Because nothing is more disappointing than excited customers coming to your store and going empty-handed. Inventory Management System for Seasonal Inventory Seasonal inventory can be tricky to handle, and if not managed efficiently, you end up with overstocking or understocking products, reduced cash flow, decreased sales and loyal customers slipping through the cracks. Having a good inventory management software that can produce customized, accurate reports on what has been successful in the past and products that don’t need a PO to raise can make your task much easier. Conclusion The major principle behind managing seasonal inventory is closely monitoring the past performance of products and present trends since both have an impact on future sales. But as is obvious, it’s nearly impossible to keep track of inventory manually on Excel sheets, not to mention, it’s a hectic process. To keep yourself from getting into a soup, you can utilize the talents of an inventory management system for accurate, faster and smooth management of seasonal inventory.
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