Guest post by Arka

Black Friday is one of the most important retail and spending events in the United States. In 2018, the National Retail Federation predicted that 164 million people shopped in stores and online from Thanksgiving through Cyber Monday - spending around $14 billion!

Black Friday is the day on which many retailers traditionally make enough sales to put them in the black for the year, so it’s crucial you get everything right. Having strong inventory management is crucial for any wholesale distribution business - especially when coming up to Black Friday the holiday season. Put simply, this is having the right stock at the right levels, in the right place, at the right time, and at the right cost.

Why is having enough inventory so important?

For many retailers, Black Friday and the holiday season is critical to ending the year in the black. Fourth quarter sales can equal (or even surpass) all sales from the rest of the year. As we mentioned above, having good inventory management is crucial for any wholesale distribution business, and here’s why that’s especially true coming up to the holiday season. 

Because boxes save Christmas!

When it comes to the holiday season, it really is "fail to prepare, prepare to fail". Good stock management helps you calculate exactly how much inventory you need to have on-hand at any time. But having enough products to sell isn’t enough. Companies frequently forget to have their boxes and packaging ordered and ready to go before the holidays begin. This is a guaranteed way to ensure delivery delays, which in turn lead to sad kids on Christmas morning! Make sure you have all your boxes ordered ahead of time, so that you and your customers can happily enjoy the holidays.

It helps you avoid (Box)ing Day blues

Surviving Black Friday calls for a celebration, but that post Black Friday elation you will feel is fleeting - as it’s already time to do it all over again by preparing for Boxing Day! The best way to avoid all this stress? Be prepared. Being ready for Black Friday and the holiday season includes being ready for those post Christmas sales. As we’ve mentioned, good stock management helps you calculate exactly how much inventory you’ll need for this period. And here’s another reminder, having sufficient inventory should include having enough boxes to ship your products!

It saves you precious time and money

When you’ve nailed your inventory management, you know exactly what’s in your warehouse. You’ll also know what’s being shipped where, the current location of your products, and their final destination. If you know all of this, it means things are less likely to get lost in transit or sent to the wrong address. If you’ve ordered high quality boxes, you’ll also be more protected against products being damaged in transit. When issues like these are minimised (or eradicated) you won’t have to waste valuable time and money dealing with complaints, re-sending orders and returned goods during the busiest period of the year!

There’s more room for creativity

If you’ve got your inventory managed well, you’ve saved yourself so much time and money. Why not use it to go the extra mile? Maybe give your packaging a festive theme? Even though the products are purchased by the receiver, using special and colorful packaging makes it feel like a gift - stand out from the crowd and make your customer feel special this holiday season. Oh, and everyone wants to share photos of their beautiful Christmas gifts - looking good is one way to ensure you get some free Social Media exposure from customers!

Keeps customers coming back for more

It’s a fact that good stock management leads to returning customers. If you want your hard-earned customers to come back for your products and services, you need to be able to meet customer demand quickly and efficiently. You want to be remembered as the company who made someone's christmas - not as the one who ruined it!

Conclusion

It is clear that efficient and effective inventory management helps your business and its reputation. It allows you to meet customer demands, by giving you the tools to have the right products, in the right place, as soon as your customers require them. There is no more important time of year to do all of this that during the holiday season! 

Get in touch today to find out more!