Whether you run a retail store with a constantly rotating stock or a service business like a salon or tattoo parlor, an inventory management system can help. Imagine pulling out your tattoo machine only to realize you’re out of the color red. That can seriously limit your design options. What about running out of 30 volume developer at a salon? Sure, you can probably blend a mix of 20 and 40 volume to handle color, but the result won’t be the same. With an inventory management system that’s part of your credit card processing system, you never need to worry about missing product.
How Inventory Management Works
When you first set up an inventory management system, you input all of your existing stock and supplies. For a salon, that means recording all of your retail stock and your service supplies. As you complete transactions, you regularly inventory your stock to remove used supplies. If you have a system like Clover Station, you can put the used supplies in as part of the transaction. The system will automatically deduct supplies and leave you with a list of what is running low. Your Smart POS can remember the supplies used for a specific customer and autofill that information for future visits.
Mobile Inventory Management for Trade Shows
If you’re at a Tattoo Trade Show, you don’t have time to send back to the shop for supplies or wait for a reorder. Most tattoos are completed on-site, within a few hours. That means you need to carefully manage the supplies you brought with you. Clover Mini and Clover Flex is a great option for keeping up with inventory on the go. It’s compact and has all the power of a stationary POS with a size that makes it easy to pack and set up at different sites. Input the inventory available at the show, and estimate usage based on each design. The system will keep track of your supplies and let you know as you run low on a specific color. If you know you’re running out of green, you might steer customers away or present designs that focus on other parts of the color spectrum.
Managing Inventory for Maximum Profits
You never want to turn customers away. That is simply a loss of potential profits. If you know what is available to your customers, you can drive the selling discussion toward products you can sell same day. Any business that runs on consumable products can benefit from an inventory management system. Think of it as another merchant processing solution offered by a smart POS system. As long as the system is consistently updated, the information will be correct and complete. This can allow your business to better track theft and losses and maximize your potential returns.