The Ultimate Stock Audit Guide for Mastering Your Omni-Channel Inventory

Managing inventory across different channels in the retail industry may involve physical stores, e-commerce, or third-party marketplaces. In the fast-changing retail landscape, managing inventory across various channels is complicated. A good system for tracking stock levels is crucial to ensure a seamless customer experience through omnichannel inventory management. Stock audits are as essential as minimising the size of your inventory pool to master your omnichannel inventory. A stock audit guide would recognise discrepancies, maximise stock levels, and ensure accuracy across all channels.

In this guide, we will detail how stock audits fit into your overall strategic framework and the steps necessary to control your omnichannel inventory.

Why Do Stock Audits Matter in Omni-Channel Retail?

It is from the Stock audits guide that accurate inventory records will be achieved in multiple channels. Stock auditions are vital aspects since this multi-channel retailing is likely to engage a single, seamless shopping experience for the customer wherever he buys. Here's why:

1. Accurate Inventory Levels:

   This will ensure that what you have recorded in your inventory management system corresponds to what actually exists in the warehouses or stores. This will avoid overstocking and stockouts in those places, loss from sales, or overholding.

2. Enhanced order fulfilment:

   Your customers might order from a few touch points online, in-store, or even via marketplaces. A stock audit checklist will hence guarantee that you can fulfil the orders with no chance of shipping wrong quantities or the wrong items.

3. Reduce Overstock and Understocking:

   Proper stock level optimisation means reducing excess inventory and storage costs; otherwise, it would prevent missed opportunities from understocking. Through audits, you will get an idea of demand trends so that you can adjust your stock level according to actual sales patterns.

How to Audit Inventory in Omni-channel

Omni-channel inventory control requires a very detailed and consistent process. The Stock audit guide includes these steps:

1. Prepare a Comprehensive Inventory List:

   You will start by ensuring that you have an up-to-date list of all the products in your stock inventory management system. These should be all the products that you offer across each of the channels. The list should contain product codes, descriptions, the amount of stock present in the warehouse, along with storage locations. To know more about the services of Ekart, visit the website and choose from the same.

2. Categorize Your Inventory:

   Divide your inventory into the leading and seasonal ones. This will make it easier to know which products to put your magnifying glass on in an audit and enable you to concentrate on major stock areas.

3. Identify Appropriate Audit Technique:

   Periodic audits are carried out at intervals, either quarterly or annually. This technique would be perfect for businesses with negligible stock fluctuations.

   Cycle Counting:

   Manage to audit specific areas of your inventory on a rotating basis. This is better for omnichannel because you can continue to check on an ongoing basis without interference with daily operations.

   Perpetual inventory system:

   The basis for this method is the use of technology like barcodes or RFID systems, which should automatically update stock levels in real time. Although this does not eliminate the need for audits, it reduces the extent of discrepancies and accelerates reconciliation.

4. Physical Counting of Stock:

   Once you create your count list, it is time to perform a physical count on your inventory. You count items in your warehouse, stores, or storage locations. For an omnichannel business, it is necessary to add third-party storage facilities as well.

5. Data Comparison:

   Once you are done with the physical count, compare the data collected with that from your system's inventory. All discrepancies that have arisen should be fully investigated to determine whether they are due to human error, system error, theft, or damage.

6. Updating the Inventory System:

   Once you determine and correct your discrepancies, make sure you update your system with the right stock levels. This way, all channels will receive correct, up-to-date information.

7. Analyze Trends and Improve:

   Once the audit is done, examine trends, which include, among other things, turnover rates, shrinkage, and stock discrepancies. You will thus devise better ways to acquire and stock up to prevent what occurred in the past.

Benefits of Regular Stock Audits in Omni-Channel Inventory Management:

1. Improved Customer Satisfaction:

   A perfect stock level ensures that the goods reach the customer at the right time and deliveries occur within a stipulated time frame, thus improving customer experience.

2. Decisive Performance:

   By analysing the audit results, one can make informative decisions about restocking, products that should be discontinued, and even more stock on popular items.

3. Reduced Operational Costs:

   Regular audits ensure that excess stock ties up one's capital and gives a chance to liquidate the costs tied with stock discrepancies like wasted time and lost sales.

Conclusion