Three tips for the best stock for jewelers

Optimize inventory management

Inventory management is an important part of the store. Many retailers have a high stock. This entails risks. It is difficult for your company to grow because less money is available for marketing and sales. Products will also quickly become obsolete and lose value if you work in a trend-sensitive market. Moreover, it is difficult to find a buyer for your company when such a high investment amount is required. In short, enough reasons to set the optimal store stock as a goal.

Obviously, but how do you tackle this problem? How do you prevent superfluous or insufficient stock? Good news, it's easier and more fun than you think! With these tips you can start immediately to reduce stock.

The optimal stock thanks to 3 components:

Your own dataFocus on the customerCollaboration with the industry

1. Inventory management is all about data

You can only really determine what to do with the store inventory if you know various purchase and sales data. Information provides insight. Of course you can measure everything, but what is important information to keep track of?



1.1 Map stock optimization

First of all, you want to track inventory. You can do this manually, but it is better of course automatically with a good cash register system. This way you can determine which articles need attention.

Track:

When was the item ordered? When will it be sold? How often is the product sold? What percentage is returned? How much margin does the product yield? What is the delivery time of the product?



Based on this information, you can better determine which items you want to order and which you should sell out.

1.2 Keep an eye on the turnover rate

It's a pity if you miss sales because products are out of stock. That is why it is important to look at the performance of your assortment (excluding seasonal items). You want to keep stocks up, especially for bestsellers. So keep an eye on whether these sell faster than expected. For good stock management, you want to see at a glance what the performance of products is.

Measure product performance:

How long is it in stock? Which products yield the most margin? Which products are not sold (and therefore cost money)?

To further automate this, settings such as minimum stock are useful to prevent administration errors.



1.3 Categorize for greater insight

You would like to see everything per product. In addition, it is also smart to categorize the assortment. This way you determine which product groups are doing well and with which you can once again organize a sale. Different groups to easily divide the range are:

SupplierBrandCategoryLocation

In combination with specific dates or the sales per employee, you can make crucial decisions to optimize stock.



1.4 Stock management from one system

Nowadays you work both online and offline and perhaps with multiple locations. Then it is important that everything comes together in one cockpit. This way you keep a grip on the store stock and it is also immediately adjusted online. There is so much supply in this transparent world that a 'no sale' is quickly a referral to the next provider.

1.5 Offer obsolete stock on time

Another problem we often see is that some products have been in the store for far too long. It is important to clear out old stock in time. It is becoming less and less valuable, while it is often still at a high price on the balance sheet. Moreover, you will have growth capital again to take new steps. So start clearance campaigns and other great offers for customers. Do a giveaway on Social Media with a beautiful product that is no longer running. This way you can also invest in marketing with your stock.



2. Focus on your customer by optimizing stock

Statistics are based on historical data. It becomes interesting if you combine this product data with customer data. This way you know which target group buys which products. This allows you to make better predictions and set up targeted marketing campaigns. But how can you serve customers without having everything in stock?

Let's put ourselves in the customer's shoes for a moment. Everything can be bought online these days. Many people no longer come to the store to look for a product, but to experience it. The customer has already seen the product online and wants more certainty before buying it. The customer then searches (online again) where he can view the product. So make it clear on your website that you can easily order products that are not in stock.

Another customer comes to the store without a specific product in mind. Usually for a gift or just inspiration. In this case, for example, you can show a wide range with a sales kiosk without actually having the products in stock. So the most important thing as a retailer is to focus on the human aspect. So you start making more targeted purchases. The ideal image is that you only purchase a product when there is a demand for it. So think of a store as an experience center rather than a location that has many products in stock.



3. Collaborate with the industry

Purchasing, however, remains a time-consuming and complicated process. How do you know if new products are selling? With PrismaNote we therefore want to go further than just providing insight into your own stock and the wishes of the customer.

Every user works in the same product database (Missed? Read this). As a result, retailers and suppliers can work better together in the field of stock management. You can decide how far you want to go in this.

3.1 Stock Management by the Supplier

An interesting option is to outsource stock management to your supplier. In consultation with the representative, you then make agreements about the maximum stock and, for example, payment arrangements. You then give the supplier insight into your stock and sales of the relevant brand with one click. In this way, the representative can also think along with you remotely about the stock. If something is sold, it can be replenished immediately. This saves you a lot of time with purchasing and you always have a complete range in the store. In addition, you never exceed the maximum stock and you always have the most important collections in the store. This is the power of the value network.

3.2 Shared Inventory

Another idea is to work with a joint logistics centre. This would only work well if several jewelers want to participate. The majority of the stock is located in this central warehouse. From the system you can then request products on sight or to sell. This way you will receive 2x a delivery every day with any desired product that you would like to sell or show for an appointment. In this way, each jeweler invests a relatively small amount of money in stock, but has access to a stock that is 50x larger (at 50 jewelers).



3.3 Dropshipping

Third, PrismaNote is thinking of a dropshipping function. This allows you, for example, to offer products for sale (only online) in your webshop that you do not have in stock yourself. A supplier who does have the product in stock can then send it directly to your customer. You will then receive a percentage of the product sold.

Which of these three do you find most interesting? We are now mainly working on 3.1. All these collaborations will eventually be possible within this system. The essence is that every jeweler and supplier can easily exchange data. Before we can take this step, you must first properly map out your own stock. Switch to PrismaNote and optimize your store inventory.

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