Gone are the days when an omnichannel retailer was defined as one who sold both online and in physical stores—with one warehouse. Today, retailers have numerous sales channels and inventory locations. Omnichannel retailers now sell online, via marketplaces, apps and in-store, and inventory is found in warehouses, dark stores and even with drop ship vendors. And that’s a simple scenario!
How can you manage inventory across all these channels and locations? With Virtual Inventory.
With virtual inventory pools, you can define and control what is sold in each channel, market or region. Set up rules—including buffers and exclusions—down to specific channels or regions. By controlling what you sell where, you can tailor your inventory and the customer experience.
What are the 3 ways virtual inventory can benefit omnichannel retailers?
- When demand in one channel or region suddenly increases, you can quickly adjust what is available to sell in other channels or regions to prevent out of stocks or overselling.
- For products that are nearing the end of their lifecycle, you can shift them to the channel, market or region that is mostly likely to sell them.
- The ability to quickly adapt when the unexpected happens. Virtual inventory allows you to make changes—fast—such as switching store inventory to be available online.
To learn what else virtual inventory can do for your business, schedule a demo today!
Content Author: Emma Dijkstra, Expert Lead – Order Management, Emakina.NL
