Many small businesses rely upon manual systems and sometimes even their memory before determining which stock to order. This is particularly the case in small fashion outlets where many owners rely upon their own judgement in deciding how much stock of a particular item they are going to order.
Imagine that you are reading a fashion magazine and noticed that one of the models is wearing a beautiful red shawl. The idea pops into your head that if you stock this particular item and displayed a magazine article at the same time, your buyers will flock through your doors in droves ready to purchase that exact same shawl.
Now imagine further that after three months you still have 98% of your stock of rituals in the back room gathering dust as your instincts have now been proven incorrect.
A point of sales software system can help you avoid these very situations. Here's how.
- By printing out a report of all your items sold over a similar period in previous years you can gain a detailed insight into the types of items your business sells best. Shopping patterns are usually well-established for each individual business and rather than having to rely upon your own instincts or memory, you can use past experience as a more reliable indicator for stock purchases.
- When your sales records indicate a changing pattern it is much easier to use the information to examine the type of trend that is occurring in your business. You may discover that whilst the shawl from our analogy still sells in good numbers, certain colours are more popular than others. Being able to pinpoint exact features of saleable items is a valuable tool that you can use to estimate your inventory requirements.
- A further advantage of a point of sale software system is that you can examine sale trends at certain times of the year. When you look at the effect of seasonal sales it can help you determine the volume you should order at a particular time of the year. For example, the red shawl may sell well in May and June but then drop off substantially in July. With this knowledge in mind you would only place an order for a small number of red shawls at the end of May.
Utilising the detailed knowledge of your sales records over a number of years gives you an instant advantage over competitors who do not use the same software. You have the luxury of ordering stock in small numbers to gauge their saleability before committing to large orders and the accumulation of your sales knowledge over a period of time makes an enormous contribution to your ultimate business success.