Stock Management Guide

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Trusted by 10,000+ businesses

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Managing your stock

Markets dominated by larger, more established Stock management is vital to keeping

costs down, and improving the efficiency
organisations can seem impenetrable to small
and profits of your business.
businesses, as they cannot compete with the vast
Many businesses order excess stock to ensure they
promotional budgets and economies of scale required
never run out of stock, however, this causes a number
to succeed. With margins so tight, stock management is
of problems:
vital to ensure businesses are able to remain profitable.
• It increases food and drink wastage and prevents
Good stock management ensures stock moves
you from bringing in fresh stock, therefore increasing
efficiently through your business, without overstocking. profit loss.
Ultimately, you will increase sales, maximise profits,
• It increases your “carrying costs” (rent, interest, utility
improve customer satisfaction, and safeguard a unique costs, insurance, taxes).
identity that customers can remain loyal to.
• It overwhelms your customer with too much choice,
which studies have shown to lower sales.

Stock Lookup
A good stock management system will allow your sales team to quickly look up
items for customers in-store and across your other store locations. Eighty percent
of retailers who have implemented this say that these tools have increased sales.
Helpful Tip

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Streamline Your Processes

Studies suggest that businesses face higher risk of evidence allowing you to negotiate with suppliers, whilst
bankruptcy when carrying excessive stock. Too much also increasing your visibility and predictability of your
stock can lead to excessive discounting, which eats into business.
your profits. On the other hand, not carrying enough
inventory will cause you to miss sales opportunities, An automated stock management system will ultimately
leading to lower revenue and dissatisfied customers. improve sales and profitability by saving you time and
money, as well as preventing errors and increasing the
The Epos Now stock management facility allows you to overall efficiency of your business.
streamline the stock ordering process by automatically
raising purchase orders, and easily managing inter- The data an EPoS system can provide allows you to view
location stock transfers. It also has the capability to your best and worst performing products, manage your
manage weight and measures of stock. discounts and focus on brands and products with the
highest profit margins.
Having complete awareness of your stock levels will
eliminate many unnecessary and laborious stock You can also monitor stock levels of multiple locations,
takes. Minimise food and drink wastage and therefore so if sales of certain products are much higher in
prevent profit losses by efficiently monitoring all items one location, then the decision can be made to
of stock, whilst ensuring your best-selling products transfer stock from it’s current location to another.
are always stocked up. Accurately tracking your stock This procedure will help to cut down on missed sales
will allow you to view detailed data, that will help with opportunities, while preventing you from unnecessarily
future buying decisions. It will provide you with detailed ordering excess stock.

Stock Import
Save time by importing your stock directly into the Epos Now software. Whether you
have externally created a spreadsheet or have the data on your previous system, you
can save time and effort by eliminating the need to manually enter product descriptions,
Helpful Tip costs, and selling prices.

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Minimise Shrinkage

The term “shrinkage” means any stock that is lost to damage, theft, misplacement, or errors in paperwork. Stock
shrinkage can reduce your margins significantly, depending on the type of business you run. The need to reduce
losses caused by shrinkage is critical in the success of a business. According to research, 15.3% of stock lost
to shrinkage was caused by clerical errors. Although it is difficult to prevent theft or merchandise damage, you
can ensure you have full control over clerical processes. Keeping your data correct and current will reduce your
shrinkage significantly, consequently increasing your profits. A great way to keep track of your stock is by using an
automated stock management system, which will give you a detailed overview of your stock and in turn dramatically
reduce these mistakes.

You will be able to predict customer demand and ensure that you have ordered enough stock by examining
historical sales, and bringing this information with you when you meet with suppliers.

The Epos Now system provides access to comprehensive sales reports, which enables you to have all of your
important data at your fingertips and will better prepare you to make important buying decisions. You will have
access to the information that will tell you which products sell the fastest and you can automate your re-ordering
process when stock runs low. You can also compare sales from specific time periods to make sure you order the
right amounts of stock for the month or season.

Click & Collect

Research shows that when customers pick up an online order in-store it can lead to an increase
of 1.8 percent in total sales. The Epos Now integration with Nettl allows SME’s to synchronise their
in-store stock with their website stock levels, enabling you to provide an efficient Click & Collect
Helpful Tip service, and allows you to compete with larger businesses. Click & Collect is set to take over home
delivery and is much more cost effective for you as a business too.

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Conclusion

To ensure the right stock is moving at an optimal rate, independent businesses need to track stock data accurately,
without consuming large amounts of time managing spreadsheets and bulky binders full of paper. A centralised
stock system can save you time and money, allows you to focus your stock management techniques and helps get
products to your customers in the most efficient way possible. Putting a good EPoS system in place ensures best
practices in stock management and this setup will allow you keep a watchful eye on your profit margins, closely
monitor shrinkage, and will ensure you have the tools to efficiently identify and manage aging stock. Maintaining
these best practices at your store will help you bring in the stock that your customers want – and keep it fresh.

About Epos Now

Epos Now design and build their own hardware and software to ensure that customers have the best solution
to suit their business. Epos Now’s aim is to constantly improve and evolve their products and this means that
customers always have an input in the changes and improvements that are made. Customers are given the tools to
build, manage and grow their businesses and to create an overall better experience for their customers. The Epos
Now system combines point of sale, stock management, customer management and data analytics, whilst striving
to help customers of all sizes to succeed in rapidly growing markets.

Over £3,000,000,000+ 350% average Trusted

transactions processed company growth year on year by over 10,000 businesses

We are
Number 1

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employees using our system POS company online

Accounts Integration
Further improve the efficiency of your business by integrating your
accounting software with your EPOS system. Epos Now integrates with Xero
and Sage software, which will save you time and money. Not only will the
software allow you to keep on top of your finances, without the need for a
Helpful Tip bookkeeper, but will also automatically synchronise suppliers, customers
and products with your chosen software to ensure complete accuracy.

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