Recent Articles
How to Simplify Purchasing throughout the Inventory Process
How can retailers toss their inventory spreadsheets aside and finally streamline purchasing? It’s as simple as implementing automated and effective purchase order (PO) management throughout the inventory process. Let’s start with the basics. Like what’s a purchase order and why is it so important? A PO is a sales contract between the buyer and seller specifying the exact merchandise received from a vendor. Within that, there are details related to the payment terms, delivery dates, item specifications, quantities, shipping terms and other relevant terms and conditions. When you’re managing a retail business, purchasing and online inventory management go hand in hand. Why PO Management is the Answer to Budgeting & Forecasting Every time you purchase stock items from a vendor, a purchase order is the document of record that allows you to keep track of purchase requests, outstanding orders and to manage your accounts payable and accounts receivable. This process is crucial to the financial health of the business. Inventory control and planning with PO’s is the key to maintaining available-to-sell product levels and replenishing orders in the fastest time possible. To prevent any errors
5 Essential Tips to Take on Holiday Shipping
What's that you hear? Could it be the faint sound of holiday jingles in the air? Perhaps you're thinking, stop this madness, Halloween hasn't even crept up yet. Or, maybe you're a bundle of holiday cheer all-year-round and can't stop singing along. Any hint of carols before Halloween is enough to make any retailer realize the busy season is quickly approaching. People are starting to get excited and the tunes are just a tipping off point. Even though the holiday retail season still appears at a safe distance, Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, then we all know what comes next. So, when should you make sure your holiday shipping plans are squared away? Some might say yesterday. Over 126 million people plan to shop on Cyber Monday, and 6 million of those orders will be delivered late, eligible for shipping refunds. -71 lbs. The orders may start to come in full-force, but what will that matter if your shipping isn't up to par. Should you look into offering free gifts with a purchase? Or, maybe honing in on those last minute shoppers by off-setting higher costs with
The Key Ingredient to Retail Success Revealed
Why have those black bars and white spaces that resemble optical morse code become so popular among retailers? For starters, it allows for increased efficiency and accuracy during the picking stage, creating an optimal inventory operation. Barcode scanners have 10,000 times better accuracy than manual data entry. “Keyboard data entry creates an average of one error in 300 keystrokes. Barcode data entry has an error rate of about 1 in 3 million.” -Supply Chain Management What Can a Barcode Scanning System Do? Decrease Inventory Levels & Lower Overhead Location of Products can be Easily Tracked Save time & Money by Avoiding Searching for or Replacing Products Track Products & Outgoing Shipments Simultaneously Provide Faster, More Accurate Data Increase Efficiency in the Shipping & Pick/Pack Stages As a multichannel retailer, you want to be sure you are packing the correct items when managing inventory. With Freestyle, you will have the ability to ensure the right items are being scanned and packed and verify the correct number of items are accounted for in the shipment. Scan and Pack with Ease Using Freestyle’s barcode scanning is much
How to Manage Omnichannel Orders
With 95 percent of shoppers using more than one channel for purchases, retailers need to focus on omnichannel customer experience initiatives, as they become the clear differentiators in the industry. "Most retailers (two-thirds) still look at simple sales volumes to measure performance rather than longer-term indicators, such as length of customer engagement (only 27% of retailers)." -Economist Insights Looking at the integrations between your eCommerce store and supporting systems is one place to start. These integrations may connect your store to payment processing, as well as order, inventory and customer management systems. EDI Solutions for eCommerce can be the quickest way to turn around payments effectively, avoid stock outs, reduce shipping errors and much more. Check out the infographic below to see how EDI can benefit your business, and start making omnichannel orders work for you. To find out how EDI can help your business in the long run, check out the integration video here.
Is it Time to Take on Order Management?
There is no question whether online shopping will continue to grow, as the web becomes more of a go-to resource for everything retail. "In 2015, over 200 million U.S. online shoppers are projected to shop online at least once a month." -invespBlog But, the real question is; how will you as a retailer use this knowledge to your benefit? Stable and reliable eCommerce platforms have significantly improved online shopping experiences, and as eCommerce shopping habits amplify, it is crucial to take the necessary steps to keep up. Utilizing all of the functionality of an online order management system will help your business thrive in the long run. Why Use Freestyle O.M.S.? The ultimate goal of an order management and inventory system is to make the merchant’s life easier and customers happier. An order management system benefits your business by encompassing all behind-the-scenes efforts, like managing the inventory purchasing process, after the customer places their order. Not only does it ensure the order is processed efficiently, but the system makes sure it is shipped promptly and arrives quickly, with as little hassle as possible. You can easily accomplish this by taking steps to manage your
5 Secrets to Growing Apparel Sales
Secrets secrets are certainly no fun, but that is especially true when the busiest time of the year is upon us. As the holidays creep up, retailers have the reputation to go a little insane. And, when it comes to apparel, there is no exception to the rule. As apparel retailers turn out new fashions and innovative buying experiences, it can get even more difficult to keep up with ever-demanding apparel sales. Apparel markets are reaching exceedingly high numbers this year. The women’s apparel market is expected to account for 55% of apparel sales and 60% of growth, due to the increasing weight of emerging markets, according to McKinsey & Company. With these strategies, you can start to see a dramatic difference in your apparel sales, by delving into what makes your customers tick and more. 1) Learn from the Pros There are a few key takeaways to gather from the big-box apparel retailers out there, including H&M and Nordstrom to name a few. They pride themselves on producing items where they sell. By doing so, they are able to attain shorter lead times for trending clothing ideas. They do