Why eCommerce Needs Better Tools to Grow

A lot of businesses do retail along the same familiar pattern. First, they dream up what products to sell, then they sell. Perhaps as they build their brand and customer base, the processes and software they use make little difference. In fact, when it comes to controlling stock, a lot of small businesses don’t even bother. However, this becomes a liability when they start to sell more and use more sales channels. For example, one business may need to graduate from spreadsheets. Another may need more than simple Shopify Stock control. The bottom line is, without the right inventory management solution, a business simply won’t be able to keep up.

Spreadsheets and Simple eCommerce Aren’t Enough

A business simply can’t rely on spreadsheets or single-channel stock control. Whether a company begins to sell a lot more or to add new channels, these tools soon lose sight of important data. After all, spreadsheets do not provide a realtime view and require much data entry to stay up-to-date. Moreover, the data gets buried over time, so it becomes difficult to analyze sales, orders and average stock. In short, without realtime inventory control, a business won’t know its stock-on-hand, actual costs or, crucially, its cash flow. Spreadsheets and out-of-the-box Shopify stock control do not give eCommerce companies nearly enough data, control or efficiency as their business grows. In fact, realttime inventory management doesn’t just improve internal processes significantly. It also leads to increased customer loyalty. For example, using an inventory management solution can not only decrease stock-outs by nearly 8%, but also improve on-time delivery by 95%.

Improving Shopify Stock Control

If out-of-the-box Shopify stock control lets you do things like track your inventory level and set up reminders to replenish as you sell, what’s missing? That amount of control may be sufficient when you don’t have many SKUs or customers. However, when you start to sell more products to more people, you’ll need to spend a lot more time juggling orders and working with your suppliers. Cin7 not only reduces data entry and provides realtime channel visibility. eCommerce companies can use Cin7 to automate order processing and fulfillment. With Cin7, you can automatically download orders from Shopify and route them to your warehouse, branch or integrated 3PL. When the order is picked at the 3PL, Cin7 automatically adjusts stock online and alerts the customer of the order status.

Integrating Shopify Stock with the Omnichannel

Will your business go omnichannel? Is Shopify stock control enough to get you there? While some brands thrive as pure-play online businesses, the bright lines dividing channels fade. Companies favor omnichannel sales and fulfillment to grow revenue and meet customer demand. They often sell and fulfill orders online, brick-and-mortar, and in marketplaces. And they do it because it improves customer experience, brand loyalty, and revenue. Cin7 integrates all these channels in one platform. Along with warehouse and 3PL integrations, Cin7 gives businesses the mechanism for the omnichannel, while keeping costs and stock down, in one solution.