Grocery Inventory Management Software Solutions

5 min readJun 27, 2019

Prior to the technology revolution, manual inventorying was the standard, reconciling every sales receipt with inventory was a necessary evil for the retail industry, and an especially bothersome one for grocery and convenience store owners. Grocery Software Solutions | Supermarket CRM Solutions

Considering grocers operate with time-sensitive products, ones with a volatile shelf life, finding the perfect symbiosis between inventory replenishment and loss prevention may seem impossible.

Automated inventory control for grocery and convenience stores is crucial to their bottom line. When dealing with perishables they need to accurately account for optimal stock levels. Over stocking leads to expired and discounted products while under stocking leads to a loss of potential profits and decreased customer experience.

Grocers and convenience store owners are currently operating at an extreme deficit, and this has to do with the bandwidth of their current inventory management system and a lack of robust solutions to overcome these challenges:

Grocers and C-Stores are over-stocking when the inventory consists primarily of perishable items, dragging ROI down significantly.
Nearly half of retailer have no inventory management system.
Insufficient inventory management is one of the leading causes of business failure.

Software providers with intuitive inventory management solutions can capitalizing immensely by servicing this market.

In order to prevent inventory expenditures and draw traditionalists away from time-intensive manual inventory practices, inventory management software providers must deliver superior software that completely automates the inventory process allowing grocers to accommodate the digital trends in grocery by opening up new channels while continuing to optimize in-store supplies.

GROCERS AND CONVENIENCE STORE OWNERS WANT…

SALES FORECASTING MODULES

Sales forecasting is important to all businesses, but to a grocer or convenience store owner, the ability to predict future sales based on existing sales trends is paramount to ensuring stock of each item is high enough to meet demand without inventory loss due to expired goods. Traditionally, grocery managers would make inventory procurement predictions based on subjective values and guesswork.

It’s no secret that mismanaging inventory is the accelerated path to business failure-the overhead skyrockets without the increase in sales to match.

The capacity to predict future sales based on existing sales trends is the key to consistently meeting stock demands without exceeding them. Because goods in the food and beverage industry have little to no shelf life, a supply significantly exceeding the demand is synonymous to loss.

AUTOMATIC STOCK REPLENISHMENT

Incorporates computer-assisted replenishing systems, eliminating human intervention, and in turn reducing data corruption. Rather than entering data by hand, inventory management software generates purchase orders from historical data to reduce labor costs and improve order accuracy.

Knowing exactly what to stock and when minimizes carrying costs, damages, and the inherent loss from goods that expire before they’re purchased. Rather than operating independent of the preexisting POS system, the automation must be configured in conjunction. The automation software functions at its highest capacity when it’s integrated into a mature base system, and must include functions that:

Establish minimum stock allowed
Establish maximum stock allowed
Operate a replenishment timing system

These add-ons alert managers on depleting stock and issue replenishment suggestions, while also computing an Economic Order Quantities (EOQ) report listing suggested additions to inventory, while consolidating purchase orders for multiple items from a single vendor. A custom reporting dashboard could be programmed to track critical KPI’s including Cost Of Goods Sold (COGS), turnover rates, and net profits.

CUSTOM INVENTORY INTEGRATIONS — ERP

Tracks receipts, purchase orders, invoices, packing slips, and bill of lading-everything an accountant or personal assistant does, but without the nagging and in real-time, and while tying all the applications grocery and convenient stores use to manage business.

Inventory management systems can be offered modularly from an overall ERP system. ERP systems will help tie together all the applications grocery and convenient stores use to manage business including human capital, supply chain, procurement, sales, CRM, and accounting functions.

CLOUD-BASED STORAGE

Giving merchants the power to easily access inventory from anywhere with internet connectivity-visibility from desktops, mobile devices, and wearable technology.

CALL TO ACTION

Automated inventory management software is the bridge between supplier and consumer, a means of anticipating needs and catering directly to emerging trends.

Developing the software that aligns with the growing demands of grocers and c-stores could allow your software to stand out among competitors.

Contact a Chetu Senior Consultant Today! We love to answer questions and help you succeed! Click Here

Disclaimer:
Chetu, Inc. does not affect the opinion of this article. Any mention of specific names for software, companies or individuals does not constitute an endorsement from either party unless otherwise specified. All case studies and blogs are written with the full cooperation, knowledge and participation of the individuals mentioned. This blog should not be construed as legal advice.

Chetu’s Gaming team implements solutions for the Gaming Industry. Chetu differentiates itself in providing industry specific expertise combined with its low cost, high productivity model. You can find more information about the portfolio and our Grocer and Retail experience at: https://www.chetu.com/retail.php

Chetu
Chetu was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Florida. We deliver World-Class Software Development Solutions serving entrepreneurs to Fortune 500 clients. Our services include process and systems design, package implementation, custom development, business intelligence and reporting, systems integration, as well as testing, maintenance and support. Chetu’s expertise spans across the entire IT spectrum.

Grocery Software Solutions | Supermarket CRM Solutions