Next to bad sales, poor inventory management has led to the failure of many Amazon sellers.
In our business of constantly moving products, high costs, and low margins - units regularly lost here and there add up to huge dents in your profits.
So you need to be quite ocd about tracking lost units and being reimbursed everywhere possible.
Here are 7 practices to include in your inventory management systems and procedures.
1️⃣ Check your deliveries. Ensure that you received everything you ordered and paid for. Claim for incomplete or damaged orders straight away as most suppliers have less than a 7-day window for claims
2️⃣ Maintain A Record of stock held by the prep centre and chase up to ensure your products and prepped and shipped out quickly.
3️⃣ Monitor inbound shipments. Check every shipment plan and make sure that the same number of units and quantities received by your prep centre were sent to Amazon's fulfillment centers.
4️⃣ Verify Shipment Receipts: Once your shipment arrives at the Amazon fulfillment center, Amazon will reconcile the received units with the quantities you sent. Any discrepancies should be addressed with Seller Support as soon as the shipment closes. This highly increases the chances of being reimbursed immediately. Any longer and you will likely be writing escalation emails.
5️⃣ Keep track of your FBA inventory: Maintain a record of the quantities of each product you have in stock, including the initial inventory, units sold, and any returns or damaged items. You can use software or a spreadsheet to track this information.
6️⃣ Track sales and returns: Keep track of the units sold and any customer returns. Deduct the units sold from your inventory count, and adjust and claim for any returned or damaged items. Claim from couriers for lost deliveries within 30 days.
7️⃣ Conduct Periodic Stock Takes: Every now and then ask your prep centre to conduct a review of what they are holding for you. Regularly inspect your physical FBM inventory to compare your actual inventory to the units listed in Seller Central and EBay. This can help identify any damages and discrepancies and ensure accurate inventory management.
Have we left anything important out? Let us know!
And good luck!
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