The Ultimate Guide To Cloud Inventory- A Practical Guide

What is cloud inventory?

Cloud inventory is a type of inventory system which tracks and maintains your inventory levels using inventory management software. These systems are also known as location-based inventory management, early warning inventory systems, or mobile inventory management systems. This inventory management method is more accessible and easier to maintain than traditional inventory management techniques.

Cloud inventory is the ability for inventory to be stored in remote locations. This allows the company to have access to its inventory without having to store it on-site or at a physical location. This type of solution is especially important for online retailers, who can't rely on their own warehouse infrastructure. With cloud inventory, companies gain more flexibility in storage and retrieval. It also offers businesses more security than traditional storage solutions because there's no risk of theft or damage at the physical location.

Cloud inventory is a relatively new way of ensuring that your inventory is accurate, especially when you sell goods or services online. It allows you to view your sales in real-time, improve customer service, reduce human errors and save on inventory costs. This article will further explain how cloud inventory can be used to manage your business's supply chain while availing of all the benefits that a solution like this offers.

How does cloud inventory work?

Managing inventory can be a tricky business. There's always a chance that you might run out of a product before it gets delivered or spend hours looking for a misplaced item. To stay on top of your inventory and make sure things run smoothly, you want to use cloud inventory management technology. Read on to know how it works and how it can benefit your business.

Small businesses often depend on manual software like Google Sheets or Excel to manage their inventory. Research suggests that nearly 50% of small or medium-sized businesses rely on manual stock tracking while others don't even bother to track their inventory because of how laborious the process can be. Manual tracking works for small-scale businesses but for those with the ambition to grow, tracking inventory can become extremely time-consuming. Apart from the tedious process, the uncurbed time and effort expended on manually recording inventory will begin to show in your budget.

Companies in the US are said to hold an inventory of $1.43 for every $1 they earn because of poor inventory management. It is imprudent to let money slip away from your business, especially when you run on tight margins.

To avoid such a scenario, it is best to invest in a cloud-based inventory management system that will automate your supply chain to ensure that the execution of the order from the stock reaching its reorder point to the creation of the order and then being sent to the supplier can be done without human intervention. The time and money spent on manual work can now be directed towards achieving other business goals and objectives.

Most cloud inventory systems include features such as order management, location tracking, supplier communications, automated requests, cost optimization, and theft prevention. While the ones that are most useful to you will be contingent upon your business's needs, most cloud-based inventory management systems give companies more control over their stock, which surpasses the perks of tracking and reordering. Relying on a good cloud inventory management software can also forecast demands and translate into enhanced production and quality, leading to happier customers and business growth.

Cloud inventory can also help you with asset management by giving you a centralized record of every asset, which is of immense help in a competitive landscape defined by fast-paced asset movement. With a cloud-based inventory management system, figuring out what assets are in stock and where they will be stored is only a matter of a few clicks.

Why should one opt for cloud inventory?

With the advancements in technology, inventory management is easier than it has ever been. You can now use cloud inventory to keep track of stock levels and remote storage. It helps streamline processes, reduce operational costs, and eliminate physical inventories altogether. As a result, incorporating cloud inventory into your company has several advantages. We will discuss the benefits of cloud-based inventory in detail further in the article.

Who is cloud inventory meant for?

While small, medium and large companies can use cloud inventory, there are certain industries to which this management solution is better suited. The hospitality industry, for instance, can benefit hugely from a mobile inventory app or an inventory scanner app, as they allow for an agile computing environment. A cloud-based solution in this industry can quickly adapt to the needs of restaurants and bars so they can improve customer experience and reach higher levels of efficiency. A bar inventory app can help tap houses constantly replenish their best-selling liquors, reduce costs associated with food waste and manage their sell-through rate.

Even the automotive industry can use cloud inventory to monitor inventory or additional data in a centralized location. Since it's an industry that relies heavily on a perennial stream of data that should be easily available, it would work well for customers to be able to search for automobiles or their parts without difficulty. It is also of immense value to manufacturing companies that need to manage different locations and supply chains, which require complex database applications. Online inventory management can enable these companies to power various locations and stay connected while lowering associated costs.

Similarly, logistics firms could use cloud inventory to reduce maintenance costs while eradicating the need for hardware. online inventory management can help supply chain companies offer their users working from different devices and locations access to the application. They also provide an application programming interface (API) to third parties, simplifying data exchange and improving supply chain visibility.

Retail, too, is bound to gain immensely from cloud inventory. Cloud-based inventory management can help sellers get real-time data that they can analyze to make better decisions for their businesses and their customers. In addition to restocking, the technological solution can increase transparency and provide insights into customer behavior. They also enhance the buyer's shopping experience by suggesting similar products to what they are looking for while helping them stay updated about their purchases.

Cloud-based inventory management software is paving the way for a deft, efficient, secure, and scalable computing environment that is highly customizable to the needs of many industries to make inventory management for businesses easier.

The benefits of cloud inventory for your business

Cloud technology helps businesses share information about their inventory securely. Today, investing in good online inventory management systems is crucial for many businesses' smooth running and success. Here are a few benefits of moving your inventory management to the cloud-

Monitor your inventory and workflows- Cloud inventory allows you to monitor stock levels and operational processes within the cloud infrastructure and from one central platform. Whether your business stocks inventory in one warehouse or several of them, a reliable cloud-based inventory management system will allow you to track your stock levels and its movement across channels and ensure that you never run out of stock.

Manage your stock in real-time- One of the major issues of inventory management is accuracy, and when carried out manually, this makes the process arduous and time-consuming. An online inventory management software like Zipinventory helps achieve precision through accurate inventory tracking. Zipinventory Features involve the management of multiple vendors and warehouses in real-time, providing off-premise access that allows users to monitor every item's location while eradicating the shortcomings associated with traditional IT infrastructures such as on-premise hardware, servers, etc.

Provide Security- Microsoft, Google, Salesforce, and Amazon offer digital security such as firewalls, data encryption, virus detection, among others, which will keep your data secure. It is essential to educate yourself and your team about digital security, backup and recovery, and risk mitigation so that you can move your operations to the cloud without worry.

Scalability- A cloud-based inventory system has the potential to help your business scale. For example, if your business begins to see higher sales or a spike in users, your cloud provider can quickly offer you a bigger bandwidth or more servers. In this way, the cloud offers you the flexibility to scale while only incurring a cost on what you use.

Simplify supply chain- Keeping optimum stock levels entails buying new stock at the right time. With order and demand automation, cloud inventory management can help streamline thesupply chain while saving time and resources.

Compatible with other systems- It is obvious that cloud inventory software cannot function alone and must be integrated with other systems to carry out business operations. For example, integration of a business's cloud inventory with cloud-based accounting software will enable merging entries and reporting in one place, and this further averts human errors and inaccuracies.

Increase productivity- The cloud allows your team to monitor and manage stock levels access told and documents from anywhere at any time, without having to spend hours tracking stock manually. While a consistent internet connection is vital for the functioning of cloud-based inventory management, some of the previously loaded work will be available when offline. The work will be re-synced as soon as the device is connected to a stable internet connection.

How to set up your first cloud inventory system

The first step in switching from traditional inventory to a cloud-based inventory method of keeping and assessing stock is to choose the right software for your business. The Zipinventory app, for instance, is easy to use, especially if you and your team work in a fast-paced environment. The app is available for a free download and works seamlessly on android and iOS. It promises quick and effortless installation and upgrading while resulting in minimal downtime. If you're still unsure of how to proceed with picking the right software or how cloud inventory could be beneficial for your business, schedule a free demo to learn how the inventory management app works.

In the future, what are some of the uses for cloud inventory?

Embracing cloud inventory has become a necessity for most businesses to remain relevant and competitive. This transformation is achievable only through the automation of inventory management systems as well as the incorporation of AI technologies. The advent of sleek online inventory management has already outmoded traditional systems of tangible technology and will further gain traction in the future. While the switch can seem cumbersome initially, the rewards far outweigh the initial discomfort of switching from a known working system to a new one.

Cloud inventory today is more feature-rich and flexible than ever before and promises a smoother and more accurate stock management system with fewer errors and a much higher level of security. In the future, it will continue to give businesses unprecedented control over their stock levels to increase productivity, compliance, and profitability. With features that enable cloud asset inventory and greater visibility while offering you real-time data both online and offline, it allows for an agile computing environment.

The future of inventory is cloud-based, and once you incorporate the solution into your business, you will notice how a simple tool such as this can make your business run smoothly.