GROCERY STORE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

Prior to the technology revolution, manual inventorying was the standard, reconciling every sales receipt with inventory was a necessary evil for the retail industry, and an especially bothersome one for store owners.

Considering grocers operate with time-sensitive products, ones with a volatile shelf life, finding the perfect symbiosis between inventory replenishment and loss prevention may seem impossible.

Automated inventory control for grocery and convenience stores is crucial to their bottom line. When dealing with perishables they need to accurately account for optimal stock levels. Over stocking leads to expired and discounted products while under stocking leads to a loss of potential profits and decreased customer experience.

Store owners are currently operating at an extreme deficit, and this has to do with the bandwidth of their current inventory management system and a lack of robust solutions to overcome these challenges:

• Grocers and C-Stores are over-stocking when the inventory consists primarily of perishable items, dragging ROI down significantly.

• Nearly half of grocery stores have no grocery POS system.

• Insufficient inventory management is one of the leading causes of business failure.

Developers providing custom food and beverage inventory software can capitalize immensely by servicing this market.

In order to prevent inventory expenditures and draw traditionalists away from time-intensive manual inventory practices, grocery POS system providers must deliver superior software that completely automates the inventory process allowing grocers to accommodate the digital trends in grocery shopping by opening up new channels while continuing to optimize in-store supplies.

GROCERY STORE INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE SHOULD HAVE…

SALES FORECASTING MODULES

Sales forecasting is important to all businesses, but to a grocery or convenience store owner, the ability to predict future sales based on existing sales trends is paramount to ensuring stock of each item is high enough to meet demand without inventory loss due to expired goods. Traditionally, grocery store managers would make inventory procurement predictions based on subjective values and guesswork.

It's no secret that mismanaging inventory is the accelerated path to business failure—the overhead skyrockets without the increase in sales to match.

The capacity to predict future sales based on existing sales trends is the key to consistently meeting stock demands without exceeding them. Because goods in the food and beverage industry have little to no shelf life, a supply significantly exceeding the demand is synonymous to loss.

AUTOMATIC STOCK REPLENISHMENT

Incorporates computer-assisted replenishing systems, eliminating human intervention, and in turn reducing data corruption. Rather than entering data by hand, inventory management software generates purchase orders from historical data to reduce labor costs and improve order accuracy.

Knowing exactly what to stock and when minimizes carrying costs, damages, and the inherent loss from goods that expire before they're purchased. Rather than operating independent of the preexisting Point of Sale or POS system, the automation must be configured in conjunction. The automated POS software functions at its highest capacity when it's integrated into a mature base system, and must include functions that:

• Establish minimum stock allowed

• Establish maximum stock allowed

• Operate a replenishment timing system

These add-ons alert managers on depleting stock and issue replenishment suggestions, while also computing an Economic Order Quantities (EOQ) report listing suggested additions to inventory, while consolidating purchase orders for multiple items from a single vendor. A custom reporting dashboard could be programmed to track critical KPI's including Cost Of Goods Sold (COGS), turnover rates, and net profits.

CUSTOM INVENTORY INTEGRATIONS

Tracks receipts, purchase orders, invoices, packing slips, and bill of lading—everything an accountant or personal assistant does, but without the nagging and in real-time, and while tying all the applications grocery and convenient stores use to manage business.

Inventory management systems can be offered modularly from an overall ERP system. ERP systems will help tie together all the applications grocery and convenient stores use to manage business including human capital, supply chain, procurement, sales, CRM, and accounting functions.

• CLOUD-BASED STORAGE

Giving merchants the power to easily access inventory from anywhere with internet connectivity using desktops, mobile devices, and wearable technology.

CALL TO ACTION

Automated inventory management software is the bridge between supplier and consumer, a means of anticipating needs and catering directly to emerging trends.

Developing the grocery store POS software that aligns with the growing demands of grocers and c-stores could allow your POS system to stand out among competitors.