When you open a retail shop — a general store or a clothes shop, it makes no difference — managing your stock is one thing you cannot skip, because it bears directly on whether the shop makes a profit or a loss.
So why should an owner care so much about stock management?
For many shop owners, managing stock is not much fun. It takes time, it is the same routine every time, and — more to the point — plenty of people worry about making a mistake and ending up with the goods on the shelf not matching the figures in the sales report.
But take it from us: managing stock has more going for it than you might think.
More chances to sell, and more profit
Managing your stock means you always have what your customers want. And used alongside your sales reports, it lets you source exactly what they are asking for, so you never miss a chance to make a profit and build the shop's reputation.
It stops stock sitting there unsold
Stock management reduces the risk of goods sitting on the shelf because they have been held too long — and held too long, they expire, which is money thrown away.
It is worse still with lines that sell perfectly well, where you keep buying more to top up the stock while the old lot is still there: your costs go up too. Let that carry on for long enough and the figures in the sales report will make unhappy reading.
Conversely, if you find you have a great deal of something left, you can run a promotion — a discount, or a free item with purchase. A promotion not only saves the stock from expiring or going off, it also advertises the shop and the rest of your range, because customers are always drawn to a promotion.
It frees up space in the stockroom
Storage space is a cost in itself. Manage your stock levels effectively and you gain space, because you know what needs to go out and what needs to come in. Managed properly, the stockroom gets roomier, and you no longer need to rent space to store goods — saving the rent and the costs that go with it.
So how do you get stock management genuinely under control?
You may think counting by hand is the best way regardless. But believe us, on the day you are worn out from a busy shift, or you have so much else to deal with that the stockroom is the last place you want to be, a shop management POS is the best help you can have.
The Qashier POS shop management system has an inventory management feature that makes handling stock straightforward. For instance:
Automatic stock additions and deductions
Adding items to the list is easy, and the system deducts stock as sales are made, so you can be confident the quantities in the stockroom are right.Checks and alerts when stock runs low
No more failing to reorder in time, or running out without realising and losing the sale, because the POS system from Qashier can be set to alert you when an item falls to a level you choose. Controlling stock becomes straightforward: an alert when quantities drop to your threshold tells you immediately when it is time to reorder, so your selling never stops — which is stock management working properly.
With these inventory features, once you have added an item to stock, every sale deducts what went out automatically. There are no quantities for you to adjust by hand, which removes the errors and is far more convenient besides.
Manage your stock with Qashier POS — and a great many other features to put to work
- Stock transfers – if you have several outlets, moving stock between them is easy, and there are fewer mistakes.
- Updating stock costs – you can set the cost price of the goods you hold.
- Linking recipes to deduct components – if you run a clothes shop, you can sell items as a set and have each component deducted from stock.
- Add, reduce and change prices easily – which makes selling that much more convenient.
- Daily sales reporting – which lets you check that what has sold and what is in stock actually tally.
In summary, why stock management deserves your attention
- You can hold what your customers actually want
- You have more chances to sell and to make a profit
- You are less likely to be left with stock sitting unsold
- You can spot chances to run promotions that draw customers in
- You free up space in the stockroom
And the ways to make stock management work
- Use a shop management POS such as Qashier to help
- Use features such as low-stock alerts
- Read your sales reports, to see whether the stockroom tallies with what is selling
Qashier POS also comes in several forms — not just the large countertop terminal, but portable POS devices such as QashierX1 and QashierXS. With a terminal you can take anywhere, checking stock becomes far easier.
If you would like Qashier to be the partner behind your shop, get in touch and we will be glad to tell you more. We are ready to support shops and restaurants alike, with POS terminals for retail shops and an effective POS system, backed by support from our team seven days a week. To order or to ask for more details, contact us on our Line Official account: @qashier.th or call 02 544 0267