Inventory management
Inventory management is keeping track of how much of each product is in stock and what changed it.
Updated:
What does Inventory management mean?
Stock moves with sales, purchases, returns and stocktakes. It is good practice to keep not only the current count but a log of movements too.
For an online shop, accurate stock stops selling something that has already run out.
Why does it matter to a small business?
Wrong stock figures cost money both ways: either you sell something that is gone and have to cancel the order, or you reorder what is still on the shelf. When every movement leaves a trace, a stocktake difference can be traced to where it arose, rather than only showing that something ran out somewhere.
What does it look like in practice?
Details
Suppose a bike shop in Székesfehérvár sells helmets in three sizes. Each size has its own stock, so the online shop will not sell a size that has run out. At stocktake the counted number goes in as a difference, and the log shows one helmet is missing. A cancelled order's helmet goes back into stock once.
How does HelloCRM handle it?
Details
HelloCRM's Products module logs every stock change, records a stocktake as the difference, returns a cancelled order's stock once, and product variants (size, colour) keep their own stock. In the Purchasing module a delivery received is a stock movement too, and the system suggests reorders for products at or below their reorder point. External shops keep their own stock.
Module: Products (paid module, price coming soon).
A CRM for small businesses in Hungary
HelloCRM is an online CRM made in Hungary for small and mid-sized businesses there, in Hungarian and English: the core CRM is free for good, with no time limit and no card, and it can be tried without signing up in a demo company full of example data.
Questions
What is Inventory management, in one sentence?
Inventory management is keeping track of how much of each product is in stock and what changed it.