Getting Control over What’s on Your Shelves

Tracking inventory by line item is more essential than ever. So is inventory management software.

With today’s operators looking to extract profitability from every nook and cranny of their c-store, it pays more than ever to know what’s on a store’s shelves. This has made tracking inventory by line item more essential than ever.

The concept’s not a new one, but a store needs the right technology to pull it off. That’s because it’s impossible to manually handle the sheer amount of items rapidly passing through the store—not mention the vast amount of information contained in each (cost, pack size, vendor, etc.).

Questions like these are becoming a thing of the past as the use of c-store automation has spread throughout the industry. In fact, its been close to 30 years since SSCS helped pioneer the “by item” approach through its powerful inventory tools—software and hardware that seamlessly works together as the CDB’s Inventory Management module.

SSCS, from our earliest days, has recognized the need for technology suited to item level inventory management and made it a reality for out customers. Managing inventory by line item means knowing the details of an item right now as well as broader sales and pricing trends over time. You can’t hope to organize and analyze that information without automation.”

If you were to boil down the advantage of the line item approach to its basics, it’s about getting control back over what’s on your shelves. In the typical c-store, this control can be broken down into three parts, as shown in the included image of the “Inventory Triangle”:

• 1 Purchase (through EDI, direct store deliveries, etc.). Getting UPC-level line item information through scanning barcodes, a SSCS specialty, gets this task out of the way quickly without sacrificing accuracy.
• 2 Sell (at the POS). Modern POS systems contain a wealth of item level information that is valuable to inventory control. Getting the POS information into the back office intact without the need for manual intervention is a key to inventory control, and a reason why SSCS Inventory Management software interfaces with the most popular POS systems in the market.
• 3 Physical Inventory. Regular inventory audits may seem overwhelming, especially in larger stores, but they are necessary for uncovering potential theft, limiting margin erosion, and maintaining a profitable product mix. SSCS’s complete approach to inventory encourages frequent physical inventory scans by making them easier, again, without sacrificing precision.

All three sides of the Inventory Triangle should be part of the store’s standard operating procedures. The methodology keeps staff accountable and helps the store secure all profits available. Some standard practices never go out of style. Inventory Management by Line Item stands at the top of the list.

SSCS is a leader in inventory control, and has been for four decades. If you want to know how to use our software to implement the Inventory Triangle in your store, please call (800) 755-1800 and ask for the Sales Department.