Understock Analysis

You can’t sell it if you don’t have it

Lost sales from out of stocks

Many businesses don’t realize the real cost of a lost sale due to an out of stock.

Start with the marketing time & money that was invested to attract the customer –  a customer that was ready to buy – then was disappointed that the item they wanted was not available.  Next, the obvious, the profit on that sale that was lost.  But it’s not finished there…the business image has been tarnished & that customer may not return in the future.

Lost profit, a disappointed customer and your reliability in question.   Ouch.

How can you reduce lost sales from out of stocks?

One method employed to reduce lost sales is to attempt to track sales lost as a result of an out of stock.   However, there are potential flaws with this approach – sales may not consistently record every out of stock lost sale, they may double-record the lost sale, etc.

A better, more accurate approach is to utilize inventory analysis and decision support tools that enable buying trend analysis to better predict future buying and production needs.

And then there’s the phantom inventory lurking in the shadows.  Phantom inventory is simply inventory that shows as inventory on-hand, when in reality, none really exists.  Phantom inventory can significantly affect lost sale out of stocks, since it appears quantity is on hand, when it is not, and therefore, purchasing does not reorder the item.

Reduce lost sales from out of stocks with ACCTivate!

The first step in maximizing sales opportunities and minimizing sales lost due to out of stocks is to implement a high-quality inventory management system that enables processes to be implemented that reduce errors & improve inventory management discipline and that has the capabilities needed to pro-actively predict demand and maintain inventory control.

Award-winning ACCTivate! is inventory, business management & CRM software that includes:

Inventory & purchasing management 

• The most feature-rich inventory control software available that enables forecasting with accuracy and predictability
• Easy-to-use, powerful vendor management tools that inject speed and flexibility into the purchasing process

• Identify items in demand that should be reordered with ACCTivate!’s Demand Report
• Quickly adapt to fluctuating customer demand, variable requirements or changing market conditions
  
• Low stock & recommended reorder conditional alerts enable pro-active forecasting & vendor management