Physical Inventory for Retail

Conducting physical inventory for retail has many important aspects including how to avoid a long and unnecessary expensive process.

The first question when conducting a physical inventory is how it will increase my profit and will I get a good report that well help me manage my store or warehouse in the most profitable way.

The answer to these two questions needs to be your target when you decide to hire a company such as ROI Inventory that provides physical inventory services. The first step is to decide when to do the physical inventory while keeping in mind that the purpose of the physical inventory plus the preparation will take time and resources.

You want to interfere with the flow of the work as less as possible when doing the physical inventory for retail. Periodsof high sales or large quantity of shipments are not the best time for hiring a physical inventory service.

You need to find the time when your staff is available and can start preparing for the physical inventory. Most retailers prefer to do inventory at least once a year;

usually in the end of January however we recommend at least twice.In many cases, up to two weeks are required to prepare your retail business for the physical inventory.

Good preparation is crucial for the success of the all inventory operation. Organize your staff and inform them about the date and time and make sure that you have extrastaff membersin case somebody will not come.

A few days prior to the physical inventory services company’s arrival assigna few of your employees to go over and make sure that all the products in the store are with a scannablebarcode.Make sure that you are made aware of any problem with the barcodeimmediately .the barcode must be accurate and be on the rightproduct.

Any location that is hard to findsuch as a hidden cabinet needs to be marked so it well not get missed during the physical inventory. Make sure that any shipments will not be opened during the inventory to prevent double counting.

When hiring a company that provides physical inventory services you need to understand theirand to present to them how you see the inventory managed. The last thing you want is to be surprised the way the physical inventorywill not suit your needs as a retailer.

Dedicate a place to put any products that cannot be scanned. Make sure that you or any one from your staff that you trust helpyou monitor the other employees. Physical inventory for retail cannot be a one man show one employ cannot scan and check himself.