It may seem like an age until Christmas, but the retail and hospitality sectors have been gearing up ready for the festive season for months already. Warehousing doesn’t need to be any different. With stock ordered and ready for sale, this is the time to put your festive holiday plans together, to ensure a smooth transition both in and out of what is, for some, the busiest time of the year.
Christmas can often be a logistical headache for many warehouse consumers across the country, but it doesn’t need to be if you get organised in plenty of time. All areas of business need to be running as efficiently as possible in order to generate sales whilst reducing costs, and this needs to include maximising your available warehouse space. You should also:
- Review your previous years’ sales
To ensure that you have the correct stock replenishment you should review your sales performance year on year. This will indicate stock popularity and enable you to make informed decisions about order volumes, thus avoiding stock shortage or surplus. Mismanaged inventories can cause significant financial problems, so track inventory, and monitor what is stored in the warehouse. Seasonal products are just that; there is usually a limited amount of time when sales will be live so it’s important to stay up to date with buying trends.
- Utilise your warehouse space
Take advantage of your available space, including vertically! You might benefit from zoning off or partitioning your areas so that you can organise and optimise the layout before peak season hits! Think about clearing out old lines that won’t sell to make way for newer, faster moving ones.
Of course, it’s worth remembering that with an increase in sales, there could also be an increase in returns, so provision should be made for this eventuality. Damaged, unwanted, or unsuitable stock returns can be a problem, not least for a small business. They have an impact on the finances of a business as well as storage implications.
- Appraise your equipment
Warehouse equipment failure is not an option, particularly at the busiest time of year. Evaluate the equipment needed in your warehouse space. The law states that machinery such as forklifts be maintained to a safe condition, but if you rent space, your warehouse provider will have taken care of this; they cannot afford to be un-operational so will maintain all their equipment to a high standard.
- Remember safety
It is required by law that you have proper signage across your premises to protect customers, visitors, employees, and inventory. This extends to your warehouse space too. Ensure that all signage is visible and legible so that everybody is made aware of any potential dangers or hazards.
Here at Eynesbury Warehousing we provide long and short-term storage solutions within our clean dry warehouse. Call our sales team today on 01480 215555 to discuss your company’s requirements or click here for more information.