One of the most important aspects of a successful retail flower shop is managing inventory. Whether dealing with fresh flowers or decorative keepsakes, keeping track of your inventory helps you provide quality customer service while minimizing waste. Here are some recommended strategies to keep in mind for effective inventory management.
Recognize Your Floral Inventory Needs
Efficient inventory management begins by identifying your shop’s business needs. However, this means more than ordering the right number of red roses for a Valentine’s Day rush. Every aspect of your flower shop has its own needs.
- Fresh Flowers: This includes all cut flowers, greens and specialty flowers from suppliers. Flower wholesalers such as Flowerbuyer help save even more by allowing you to customize flower orders to suit your shop’s needs.
- Florist Supplies: Identify floral arrangement needs such as vases, ribbons and other accessories.
- POS Supplies: This includes items such as superticket stationery, printer ink and ribbons, or any other needed office supplies.
Identifying your shop’s recurring needs lets you create a restock schedule that ensures you have necessary supplies on-hand without overspending. Reliable floral suppliers such as Teleflora and Flowerbuyer save you time by meeting all those vital needs for our florists.
Track Floral Sales Trends and Seasonal Demands
Florists are no strangers to the seasonal floral trends. Anticipating these trends can help make sure you are prepared for major floral holidays such as Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. Whether vibrant red roses or beautiful lilies, make sure your shop is fully stocked with fresh flowers your customers love.
- Review Past Sales Data: Review sales data from previous years to predict demands during busy holiday schedules.
- Recognize Trends: Stay up to date on surging flower trends. Recognize which blooms are in high demand to make sure you have them on hand. This data can help you establish effective strategies, such as First In, First Out (FIFO) inventory management.
- Tracking Costs: Utilize bookkeeping general ledger journal entries to track inventory costs. This information can help you determine flower arrangement and product pricing strategies.
By using this information, you can adjust your order schedule to meet demands while avoiding unnecessary waste during those quieter months.
Utilize Advanced Floral Point of Sale Technology for Inventory Management
Advanced POS systems with integrated inventory management features can save you time by tracking stock in real time and reducing human error. Teleflora provides the most advanced POS options with inventory management in the industry.
Look for these key inventory tracking features in your shop’s point of sale system:
- UPC/Barcode Labeling: Unique product barcodes save time and reduce human error during transactions. Utilize barcode scanners to quickly enter product codes and avoid the risk of incorrect code entry.
- Real-Time Inventory Level Tracking: Keep track of on-hand products and set reorder amounts to be notified of low inventory levels. This helps you stay ahead of demand, ensuring you can meet your customers’ needs.
- Recipe Tracking: Floral POS software that allows for custom recipe entry helps track counts of components, such as gift baskets. This not only helps you monitor on-hand counts but save on costs due to overfilling product orders.
Vendor Master Lists: Create listing of frequently used vendors to help streamline the reorder process.
Ensure Success with the Right Floral POS and Inventory Management Solution
Managing inventory is essential to the success of any flower shop. Understanding your needs, accurate sales data and implementing effective technology help you eliminate waste and save money which improves profitability. Make sure you have the tools necessary for success by letting Teleflora curate a POS solution to meet your needs.
