5 surprises retailers often discover about their business after a stock take

Smart POS software makes doing a stock take easier, more accurate and more valuable.

Based on the years of experience from Tower Systems helping local retailers to undertake stock takes, here are the top 5 things retailers discover about their business after doing a stock take:

1. The extent of theft in the business. The stock take advises what is actually there while the POS software can show what was expected to be there. The gap is the discrepancy, theft, breakage or similar. Either way, a discrepancy is a problem.
2. The poor handle on stock, as shown by the amount of dead stock, items not sold. dead stock is not.making money for the business. The stock take count is evidence. It does not lie. It reveals what is working and what is not. This is a huge value from the POS software.
3. The best and worst performing suppliers to the business. Indeed, a stock rake can lead to changes in a supplier relationship.
4. The most and least efficient product categories in the business in terms of return on inventory investment and return on retail floor space.
5. The link between in-store and online. With data flowing between the physical shop and online store, the value of accurate stock on hand data from the PSO software stock take speaks to this insight.

A stock take is when a retailer counts the stock (using g their POS software) that they have in their shop and any other location holding stock,. This exercise enables them to check stock levels, identify shortages and calculate their stock turnover ratios .

A stock take also helps retailers to plan for future stock levels by updating their stock estimation methods if necessary. It can be conducted at any point between monthly or quarterly.

A stock check is a good time for a retailer to reflect on their stock levels and stock management processes. Here are five things that retailers often learn from stock takes:

1. To count stock accurately, you need to know where your stock is

A stock take will usually show how much stock has been counted as being in the store, but it may also show stock that was not counted or stock that has disappeared. This is nothing to worry about though, as stock may have been misplaced or damaged during the stock check anyway.

2. Sometimes stock takes are not conducted regularly enough for them to be used in stock estimation methods

If stock checks are conducted infrequently there may be too much stock variation between stock checks for stock estimation methods to be reliable. This means that stock estimations will not reflect the retailer’s current stock levels or future stock requirements. In this case, stock estimations need to be updated using a more up-to-date method .

3. Stock takes can provide valuable information about how inventory is being used

Stock takes can show what stock is being sold and how the stock turnover ratios of each store is performing. It may also show stock that sat unwrapped on shelves and stock that was out-of-date or damaged.

4. A stock take will reveal stock that has not been entered into stock records

It’s likely that some stock has not been recorded in stock records. This stock may be stock that was sold but not entered into stock records, stock that was stolen or stock that went out of date without being used (and has now expired).

5. Stock takes can help retailers identify theft and loss

A stock check can reveal stock shortages caused by theft or loss which will enable retailers to take action such as tightening stock control processes or increasing security. It may also show stock that was not counted and stock that has disappeared.