Moving out inventory quickly and efficiently is good for business. But, there is a fine balance to that. “Sorry, this item is temporarily out of stock” is never a good message. You don’t want to disappoint potential customers. The risk for a bad review on social media is far too great in today’s technology-driven world.  It was Bill Gates who said, “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”

That’s why a quality inventory management system should be – must be – at the heart of your fulfillment operations.  It doesn’t matter if you’re a retailer, a manufacturer, or what products you sell. You want to ensure that time is not wasted on damage control because of poor inventory control.  That will simply get the “bean counters” in your organization upset. A lost sale is, after all, lost money.

So how do you strike that balance between having too much of a thing, or not enough?

It comes down to efficiently counting (not beans) but inventory. And doing it often. At least here is where modern technology is in your favor.

An inventory software program is necessary to help your operations team analyze what inventory is in demand, what is not, and to stay on track against an “out of stock” message that could hurt your bottom line.

To avoid losing sales and negative feedback from potential customers, count inventory often and on a regular basis. To “magnify the efficiency” of that process, invest in a quality inventory management system to ensure your business continues to grow profitable and strong.