The pandemic saw a huge boost in online sales, with many retailers finding it difficult to keep up with demand. Growth is an incredible success story for your business but can turn into a nightmare if you’re not able to get in front of it and maximise your supply chain and manufacturing to keep pace.
Giving notice should be a key practice that you implement with every partner in your supply chain. This should start at the very beginning when you begin working with a manufacturer. Once you’ve worked out how many units they’ll be producing a month and at what cost, it might be a good idea to ask for other cost projections- namely if you were to double or x10 your units, what would the new cost per unit be and can they guarantee that they can keep up with that sort of demand? Asking them upfront what is their unit capacity will help you decide if they’re the right partner for you long term. In addition, knowing the amount of notice your manufacturer needs for new orders (especially if they are larger than previous ones) will help you prepare for high growth opportunities such as the winter peak season.
When beginning to work with a logistics provider, have conversations about growth early. You might start working with a provider that only works with SME’s in your home region. This might suit your business when you’re starting out as they offer more personalised options and feel more like a family member than a partner. However, when your sales start to increase, you may find your provider is unable to keep up or help you move into new markets. Having to switch providers right when your sales are growing exponentially can be a disaster, meaning delayed shipments and even having to cancel orders and temporarily close your online store.
Using powerful inventory management software (or working with a 3PL that does) is a great way to stay on top of your inventory. Some inventory management software can also predict when your stock will run out, based on previous sales. This will help with planning throughout the year so that your customers are always able to access your products without delay.
Using Borderless360’s technology you’re able to manage your entire supply chain all in one place, including inventory management. By connecting to your shopping cart (such as Shopify, Amazon, Magento, etc) with warehouse inventory, Borderless360 is able to seamlessly give you an overview of your stock, as well as predict when it will run out.
