Having inventory available is a crucial component of ensuring customer satisfaction. If you can’t fill orders, not only will customers leave empty-handed, but they may also turn to your competition instead of waiting around for your business to get more inventory in.

To solve this, it’s a good idea to always have inventory on hand, but how much inventory you should keep available depends on several factors. Having too much inventory can mean lost retail and warehouse space, but having too little inventory can mean not being able to fulfill orders.

If you’ve run into the issue of wondering how much inventory to keep available, below are some tips to help you sort it all out:

Use a Reporting Database

One of the easiest ways to know how much inventory you have is by using a reporting database. For example, if you’re selling through Amazon, an Amazon reporting dashboard can show you how many items you’ve sold and how many you have available.

With the information pulled from your Amazon reporting dashboard, you can examine customer trends to anticipate your inventory needs. Also, your database can let you know early when a particular item is running low to give you time to get more in stock before a product sells out entirely. Find the best Amazon reporting dashboard by visiting this website.

Think About Supplier Lead Times

Your products likely have some type of supplier involvement. Even though your company makes the product, you have to utilize suppliers to source materials and gather components. For the most part, these supplier relationships flow smoothly, but when they don’t, it can spell trouble for your company’s inventory levels.

To bolster your inventory management efforts, make sure you understand and are aware of your suppliers’ lead times. You should also keep an open line of communication with your suppliers and pay attention to the news going on in their industries.

This information can alert you to disruptions that may cause your inventory to get low. When you’re aware of potential setbacks, you can plan accordingly to shift inventory or ration inventory until the problem gets resolved.

Read a similar article about the best Amazon FBA tools here at this page.