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3 easy ways to overcome the biggest inventory visibility challenges 鈥� and reclaim control over your supply chain management.

For your direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand to be successful, you need to have a clear and accurate understanding of your current inventory levels.

This clear view 鈥� more commonly known as inventory visibility 鈥� is the key to making smarter decisions about聽demand forecasting,听replenishment,听fulfillment,聽and more.

At its core, inventory visibility answers the questions: What products do I have available? And, where are those products located along my supply chain?

With the correct answers to these questions, your company can enjoy all the benefits ranging from fewer stockouts and less dead stock to better allocation of resources and an elevated customer experience.

Because of this, inventory visibility is at the heart of well-executed聽inventory management聽and serves as the cornerstone of a well-run supply chain. Here鈥檚 everything you need to know about it.

What is inventory visibility?

Inventory visibility is the ability to monitor stock levels in real-time to evaluate inventory availability and accurately locate specific units within a warehouse, fulfillment center, or transit route.

6 main benefits of inventory visibility

If you run a product-based brand, inventory visibility is the key to unlocking growth and long-term success. For one, inventory visibility reduces stockouts and overstocking. But it also supports improved forecasting, resource allocation, and omnichannel management.

1. Reduced stockouts and overstocking

When you track your products across multiple storage locations and stages of the fulfillment process, you can make smarter, more accurate inventory decisions to avoid excess inventory and running out of stock.

Inventory visibility shows you what you have in stock versus what SKUs are running low, so you can order the聽optimal quantity聽to satisfy demand.

In that way, inventory visibility reduces the potential for inventory shortages (AKA, stockouts)听and聽prevents overstocking.

And by avoiding an overstock situation, you鈥檒l also put a stop to accumulating聽dead stock聽(or slow-moving, unsold inventory) that hurts your profitability by racking up carrying costs.

2. Accurate demand forecasting

Demand forecasts聽are a key player in聽inventory planning聽since forecasting is the backbone of your reordering and replenishment process.

Thankfully, inventory visibility supports greater accuracy in all your forecasting efforts.

That鈥檚 because inventory visibility lets you see historical data from across your selling channels. This includes the time and date of previous orders, the number of SKUs ordered, and so on.

This type of granular data 鈥� courtesy of inventory visibility 鈥� can help you forecast growth and trend projections with a lot more certainty.

Plus, you can even look back and see whether your earlier forecasts lined up with actual consumer demand.

The bottom line is that although forecasting is聽rarely聽100% accurate, inventory visibility can get you much closer to that mark than relying on guesswork and gut feelings.

3. Smarter resource allocation

Inventory visibility helps you allocate all your resources across your entire fulfillment network.

Essentially, inventory visibility tells you the amount of stock you need to send to your designated outlets (warehouses, distribution centers, and so on).

叠测听optimizing your inventory like this 鈥� such as by stocking the right SKUs at the right Shopify locations 鈥� you can actually reduce shipping costs and speed up your order lead times. As a result, this efficient resource allocation can save your company a lot聽of money.

But on top of that, smarter resource allocation also prepares you for the unexpected.

For example, say your inventory is well-distributed among your warehouses and fulfillment centers. Then, you鈥檒l likely have what you need to fulfill orders and ride out any disruptions with supply chain management.

In other words, better resource allocation makes you more adaptable. And it helps you continue with 鈥渂usiness as usual鈥� during unforeseen events.

4. Improved omnichannel management

Omnichannel retail聽integrates multiple sales channels to give customers a聽.

This means ecommerce brands can leverage coordinated inventory data across all customer channels 鈥� from social media to online marketplaces to brick-and-mortar stores.

And in recent years, omnichannel selling has seen a huge surge in popularity.

According to a Forrester Consulting study (commissioned by Shopify),听聽are 鈥減rioritizing omnichannel order fulfillment over the next year.鈥�

Meanwhile, 58% of consumers say 鈥渇lexible blended shipping options鈥� like Buy Online, Pick-Up In-Store (BOPIS) are important to their overall experience.

So, just how does inventory visibility factor into the omnichannel equation?

Well, inventory visibility ensures that all products are accounted for and documented in your electronic records 鈥� whether these items are at your warehouse, in transit, or sitting in a stockroom somewhere.

Inventory visibility pinpoints where your inventory is throughout the supply chain and makes sure your internal records match your inventory reality.

In turn, this leads to improved omnichannel management and more accuracy for your stock levels. And you won鈥檛 make the embarrassing mistake of selling products you don鈥檛 actually have (unless you鈥檙e intentionally聽selling on backorder, that is).

5. Enhanced customer experience

In the crowded world of retail, DTC brands can still set themselves apart by delivering an above-and-beyond聽customer experience.

But while there are many ways you can go about delivering exceptional customer service, inventory visibility continues to be one of the best.

That鈥檚 because the more visibility you have, the easier it is to monitor your stock levels across all selling channels. And you can maintain greater inventory control and always have enough SKUs in stock to meet customer expectations or demand.

When you have the products customers want in stock and ready to ship, they鈥檒l get a favorable impression of your brand and will likely purchase from you again.

In 鈥嬧�媐act, a Salesforce poll from late 2020 revealed that聽聽were 鈥渕ore likely to make a repeat purchase after a positive experience.鈥�

What鈥檚 more, 71% of poll participants said they鈥檝e 鈥渕ade a purchase decision based on experience quality.鈥�

With this in mind, there鈥檚 no doubt it pays to optimize your stock levels via inventory visibility. In doing so, you can really boost customer satisfaction and keep them coming back for more.

6. Lower supply chain costs

Many things can affect your supply chain costs 鈥� from ineffective storage to unoptimized operations. But having a complete view of your inventory across your entire supply chain can cut down on these costs in a big way.

With the help of inventory visibility, your company can see where it鈥檚 overspending on warehousing fees or unsold SKUs.

For instance, you might notice you鈥檙e storing too much stock at locations where there isn鈥檛 a high demand for those products (meaning, you鈥檙e tying up聽working capital聽in unsold goods).

But once you recognize this situation, you can free up some of that capital by shifting toward聽product bundles, offering deeper discounts, or discontinuing slow-moving SKUs altogether.

This way, inventory visibility keeps your cash flow, well,听蹿濒辞飞颈苍驳.听But it also saves you from overspending on inventory and supply chain costs.

The biggest inventory visibility challenges

Now that you know all the barriers to inventory visibility, let鈥檚 talk through how you can get a blue-sky view of your stock levels.

Among the most popular methods for improving inventory visibility are using barcode scanners, streamlining inventory tracking, and implementing operations software.

Inefficient warehouse setups

A disorganized warehouse isn鈥檛 just trouble for your聽inventory accuracy聽鈥� it can also really block your visibility.

If your team is working in an inefficient warehouse, it will be tough for them to find the products they need when they need them.

Warehouse inefficiency can come in many different forms:

• A lack of product labeling
• Variances in bin and pallet sizes
• Poor product flow from not grouping 鈥渓ike鈥� items on the same shelves

So, like it or not, a messy warehouse will create fulfillment delays and weaken your inventory visibility (since the products you need are not easily found).

This reduced visibility can then throw off your inventory counting, tracking, or forecasting processes.

Dependency on manual processes

Relying on manual processes is seldom in the best interest of DTC brands. And in this case, manual efforts tend to interfere with your inventory visibility.

Simply put, manual inventory tracking is both tedious and time-consuming.

This is especially true if your company works with a complex supply chain 鈥� where inventory is constantly shipped between different warehouses or distribution centers.

When you manually monitor product movement, it eats up countless hours in the workday that could be better used on customer engagement.

In addition, manual processes are super susceptible to human errors like miscalculations or inaccurate inventory count.

These errors can then affect the accuracy of your reporting and make it difficult to maintain聽optimal inventory levels.

Lack of knowledge about automation

Relying on manual processes often goes hand in hand with a lack of knowledge about automation.

That is, your company might be doing things manually because you didn鈥檛 realize there was a way to automate those tasks.

But the truth is: Modern inventory and operations software can easily be automated to support inventory visibility.

For example, most operations systems are now equipped with聽real-time inventory聽updates, automatic聽replenish alerts, and forecasting slash planning features.

Whether you鈥檙e a new DTC brand or you鈥檝e been on the retail scene for a few years, automating your inventory management system can revolutionize your business.

When you leverage all the functionality of operations software, your company can boost productivity, reduce errors, and meet customer demand with ease.

Intimidating software costs

Maybe you鈥檙e familiar with all the benefits of automation software. But you鈥檙e turned off by the cost of getting a platform up and running.

While the initial investment can feel overwhelming, not聽teaming up with an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system or equivalent operations software hurts worse long term.

That鈥檚 because manual processes 鈥� in lieu of adopting automation 鈥� deny your brand the inventory visibility it deserves.

So, if you experience sticker shock while searching for the right software, just remember all the assets you鈥檒l gain and how much money you鈥檒l save as a result.

For example, 网红黑料 has helped top DTC brands like聽Caraway聽and Lalo reduce their down payments to vendors by 50%.

How? By providing the inventory visibility needed to negotiate better terms.

Plus,听网红黑料 saved these ops teams up to 20 hours of work per week. So, with plans starting at only $200/month, the operations software more than pays for itself.

How to improve your inventory visibility

Now that you know all the barriers, let鈥檚 talk through how you can actually achieve inventory visibility.

Among the most popular methods for improving inventory visibility are using barcode scanners, streamlining inventory tracking, and implementing operations software.

Use barcode scanners

Barcode scanners are a wonderful way to add efficiency and visibility to your warehouse management.

When all of your inventory is barcoded, it can quickly be scanned to reveal important product details. For instance, you can use barcodes or to check in and track where the item is stored and how many units are in stock.

The beauty of barcodes and barcode scanners is that this technology is universally accepted. Meaning, it鈥檚 used by retailers, suppliers, and manufacturers from all over the world.

This makes switching to third-party logistics providers or scaling up your operations much easier.

In addition, barcode readers significantly reduce the number of mistakes you鈥檒l encounter.

The accuracy of barcodes far exceeds that of manual entry. And it ensures the data you鈥檙e working with is as precise as possible.

And perhaps the best part is they can deliver the information you need in just a fraction of a second.

This can save your team tons of time during the workday, especially compared to the slog of cataloging each inventory item by hand.

Streamline inventory tracking

Along with barcode scanners, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags can also improve your warehouse organization and help streamline inventory tracking.

In fact, RFID scanners can read multiple product codes at once. This allows for even more efficient use of your company鈥檚 time (and capital).

When RFID tags are scanned into an Automatic Identification and Data Capture (AIDC) dashboard, it automatically generates a full report on that particular item.

This means your team can track data fast and accurately. And with this information at their fingertips, they will inevitably make better operational decisions.

As a result, productivity will increase, forecasts will improve, and customers can get what they want, when they want it.

Implement operations software

While barcode scanners and RFID tags are great hardware solutions, you can also improve your inventory visibility via software.

Retail operations software has a variety of features that can broaden your inventory visibility to a significant degree. As I mentioned earlier, the best software comes with:

• Perpetual inventory updates
• Automatic replenishment notifications
• Simple integrations with the tools you rely on

And if that wasn鈥檛 enough, some operations platforms even store your real-time and historical data right in the same place.

With this incredible level of visibility, you can see all your聽inventory metrics聽at a glance and keep your entire supply chain running smoothly.

How 网红黑料 offers better insight into your inventory

网红黑料 makes it easy for DTC brands to gain the inventory visibility needed to fuel their growth.

By teaming up with 网红黑料, your company can view its inventory in real-time, improve its purchasing workflows, and integrate with the leading retail apps and platforms.

Supports real-time visibility

Scalable, sustainable DTC growth is closely tied to how well you manage your inventory. So, without consistent visibility into your inventory levels, your brand will have a hard time unlocking its growth potential.

Fortunately, 网红黑料鈥檚聽actionable dashboard聽supports real-time inventory visibility. With it, you can clarify what your products are doing around the clock.

网红黑料 also helps you make sense of your inventory data. This way, you can pull practical insights from all your numbers.

You can then use these insights to make smarter decisions for purchasing, forecasting, and beyond.

Improves purchasing workflows

Speaking of improved purchasing decisions, 网红黑料 has a few other features to help optimize your purchasing workflows.

Because 网红黑料 has eyes on your inventory 24/7, it knows when your stock levels are running low and when you need to replenish.

As you鈥檙e nearing your ideal reorder point, 网红黑料 will automatically email聽replenish alerts, letting you know it鈥檚 time to stock up.

With these reliable notifications, you can be sure you order all the products you need, exactly when you need them.

But the best part? 网红黑料 even streamlines your聽purchase orders.

With a single click, 网红黑料 creates customized POs tailored to your unique inventory needs (zero guesswork involved). All you have to do is check the PO and hit 鈥渟ubmit.鈥�

Integrates with top apps and platforms

网红黑料 knows that running a successful DTC brand requires multiple platforms to take care of all your different business needs. And that鈥檚 exactly why 网红黑料 seamlessly聽integrates聽with your current tech stack to deliver actionable, measurable insights.

By combining 网红黑料 with your favorite DTC tools 鈥� like Shopify, Amazon, Cin7, and ShipBob 鈥� you can empower your brand鈥檚 operations to an even greater degree.

With these integrations in effect, you鈥檒l have a well-rounded retail support system you can lean on at every turn.

But don’t just take our word for it 鈥� .