What is a stocktake in a retail business and why does it matter?
A stocktake, or stock take as some write it, is the process of counting the stock in your business.
Government regulation requires businesses to maintain an accurate stock on hand count and value for taxation purposes.
Smart business owners and managers do their stocktake throughout the year, on a rolling basis, rather than in an end of financial year rush.
Here is what a stocktake tells you about your business.
- The value of your stock.
- What stock has been lost or stolen since you last counted.
- Opportunities for change in the business.
There are other benefits of accurate stock on hand data, though not direct outputs of the count.
- Which suppliers perform best and which perform worst.
- The return on floorspace from stock by category.
- Whether customer theft is an issue.
- Whether employee theft is an issue.
So, doing a stocktake is valuable. Here at Tower Systems, experience shows us a stocktake is central to the success of any retail business.
Let us make the stocktake easy.
We are not talking about cutting corners or avoiding vital work. Rather, we have a stocktake process that could save you time and help you know what you need to know today.
Doing a stocktake of the whole business is the traditional way. But if you break it up and do sections of the shop when it suits, you get more accurate data at a lower labour cost. This is the rolling stocktake.
The Tower Systems POS software lets you count part of the shop if you wish. A shelf, an aisle, a section, or even a single item. Of course, you can do a whole-store stocktake too.
By counting a section or segment, you can concentrate on high-moving items, items more likely to be stolen, or items you want to check for another reason. You can schedule these spot stocktakes to suit your labour availability. Finding half an hour in a daily roster can save money compared with bringing people in especially to count.
Having worked with local retail businesses for many years, and taken part in many stocktakes across many categories, our advice is that the rolling approach is usually more time efficient and financially beneficial. It also gives you an earlier indication of possible theft.
Good POS software gives you stocktake flexibility. This helps you drive value for your business.
Now, some quick-fire stocktake questions, answered from the perspective of the Tower Systems software.
- Can my shop be open while I stocktake? Yes.
- Can I stop and start the stocktake? Yes.
- Can I use multiple terminals to stocktake? Yes.
- Can I use a handheld PDE or PDA? Yes, many brands are supported.
- Can I use a laptop? Yes.
- How long will it take? It depends on your products, store layout and staff training. Time improves as you go.
- How often should I stocktake? Once a year for the whole business, or weekly in manageable bites with the rolling approach.
- Will you train us? Yes. We have excellent self-serve and one-on-one training resources and options.
Too many retail business owners still use external stocktakers. In our experience, they are a waste of time. Your business data is a valuable asset. Do the stocktake in a way that respects and nurtures that asset. This is why doing the stocktake using your POS software is a smart business move.
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