Inventory is a key asset of any retailer, regardless of whether inventory is sold online, in brick-and-mortar stores or via any other sales channel. Yet many retailers have not established a routine for accurately managing and tracking inventory. A retailer may be able to launch a marketing campaign that reaches thousands of prospective targets and provide their customers with great customer service, yet their inventory can be unaccounted for, out-of-stock or generally disorganized.

It's important that retailers realize inventory is an asset, essentially their cash or revenue. Just as a retailer tracks cash flows in and out of the business, a retailer should be aware of all inventory movement, as it can have a significant effect on their bottom line. To do this, retailers should invest in the right inventory management software.

Here are three tips for better inventory management:

1. Track Inventory More Effectively And Remember Limits
When retailers manage multiple sales channels, from online stores to brick-and-mortar, it can be difficult to accurately track stock levels, as Multichannel Merchant noted.

Ultimately, successful inventory management boils down to anticipating demand and having inventory at the right places at the right time to satisfy demand. Although stock issues aren't always the retailer's fault, in many cases, running out of inventory is avoidable through real-time tracking and accurate forecasts.

An inventory management solution such as SalesWarp can help in that regard, as it enables merchants to track inventory across channels. This prevents merchants from accidentally over-selling items and being unable to fill orders after a sale has already been transacted.

2. Use Data To Achieve Success
One of the biggest benefits of eCommerce is the ease of collecting key data and analytics from online shoppers, giving savvy retailers the ability to quickly identify trends, patterns and opportunities. Order history, viewing history, clicks, time spent on pages – all of this data can give merchants a more precise picture of customers and seasonal shifts in demand.

It's crucial that retailers deploy an effective inventory management solution that can consolidate and analyze data to provide retailers with actionable insight. The better the insight, the easier retailers will be able to increase the accuracy of their inventory forecasts and projections.

3. Maximize Inventory Through Bundling
This third point involves a combination of the previous tips. Knowing product demand can help identify opportunities to bundle two or more items to be sold together to drive further revenue.

For example, a hat, a winter coat, a pair of gloves and a scarf could effectively be bundled together. Bundling slow-moving items with hot ones is a means to offload inventory and generate more revenue without having to excessively slash item prices.

Data and analytics assists in the bundling process by identifying products consumers may be interested in based on past purchases or discovering pairs or sets of items that are often bought alongside each other.

Taking these three tips into consideration, it should be known that investing in the right inventory management software will help you drive revenue through effective inventory management.