Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

I have a small kiosk in a mall selling cell phone accessories. I have a relatively inexpensive POS that runs everything. Sales, inventory, etc.

I want to open in another location but I dont want to put another computer in there, just a register. Are there forms/templates that I can use to give me a general idea on what type of inventory sheet I can come up with? I want something simple and straightforward that I can have employees use as I cant be there all the time.




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I am having over three thousand boxes of items coming in with in two weeks. One thing I never looked into was, inventory control. Completely over looked this and having a system is crucial to any successful business.

Anyone recommend a system that you guys currently use to manage inventory please?

Bar code scanner, software, automatic replenishing system. I have been looking and searching google but I cannot decide.

Totally lost and any input will be great.

Thanks
Dennis

As a youth I used to help around in a small chain store, in specific I used to do most of the filing and stock management
It was a small chain store and we used a very old system to run both the store, the accounting and the stock. and it all worked together
I can`t remember the name of the software but I believe it cost money to install and use

Perhaps you can start there though. Go to local stores (the small friendly neighborhood kind) and ask them how they do

Just a thought

Jmes



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Morning,

There are a number of software programs on the market.  Here are some suggestions.  Quick Books has an overall business software with inventory management capabilities.  You can also go to Office Depot and pick up software at a reasonable price.  Microsoft makes a software pack similar to Quick Books.  I think it`s called MS Money.  You can also go on line at Inbound Logistics and do a search for "Inventory Software."  This magazine does comparison reviews of software for warehousing operations.  You can also create a simple inventory program in Excel or Lotus.  I used this type of program to track inventory at a mining company.  Not recommended though.  Very limited functions.

With that said, here are some issues you need to consider.  First, what do you want your inventory program to do.  All programs can be set up to track on hand inventory and give you a reorder point.  But, not all can generate reports.  It`s often helpful to have a report to show you yearly sales for each item for example.  This tells you what items you need to stock a lot of and what items are just sitting on your shelf collecting dust.  A major electronics retailer used this type of information to reduce the number of different items   their stores had to carry.  Stores went from 3500 different items in inventory down to 1900 items.  Big savings as far as inventory dollars spent for the stores.

Yearly/monthly sales reports also give you an indication what months certain items sell in.  Then you can stock your shelfs accordingly.  A good example is coats.  Inventory reports may show that a certain type of coat sells well in September.  Using this information, a store can put in a big order for that type of coat to arrive at the end of August.  Being able to selectively target when you need to order certain items can save you inventory dollars as well.

I also had a program that showed customer sales.  This let me know which customers were buying product and how much product.  This helped me market more affectively to customers that were likely to be repeat customers as apposed to one time buyers.  In short, these reports provide valuable marketing information. 

Other reports include an open P/O report, items committed to a job or customer and cycle count reports.  These all help in managing an inventory.

If you would like more information, fee free to contact me at "culshaw@spcfreelance.com"





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Thanks for all the input. It has been very helpful. I bought quickbooks enterprise and it seems as its sufficient. I guess time will tell. I am trying to cut down cost as much as I possibly can and having a software without relying on companies is what I was looking for. Its funny how I never realized how important a great inventory system is. I had a chance to watch Walmarts success on the Business Channel last night and the CEO was commenting a big chuck of that is because of the Inventory Management System.

Anyway, thanks for all the help and quick replys. It is great to see, there are helpful people wanting success for others. Ok I wont cheese it up much, as I already have :) Thanks

Dennis

As per my opinion, Inventory management is the active control program which allows the management of sales, purchases and payments. Inventory management software helps create invoices, purchase orders and many more.

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