Addressing Inventory Challenges with Subscription Management Tools
Retailers must continually contend with the complexity of inventory management. But when they also operate on a subscription model, they must navigate the intricacies of subscription management, which further compounds the difficulties. Is there a way out? This article explores these issues, highlighting the pitfalls of manual processes and the costly consequences of inefficiencies. It then talks through how automation can turn inventory obstacles into opportunities for customer satisfaction and growth.
Retailers who have a subscription model understand the benefits it brings. But without the right tools, it brings challenges too.
Especially when it comes to inventory.
If you’re suffering with this scenario, you’re probably nodding your head because you understand how difficult things can get.
But you don’t have to worry because we understand your dilemma. We’ve worked with subscription companies for a long time, and we know what works.
This article will plunge into your biggest inventory problems, and then shed light on the best solutions about how to deliver lower costs, operational efficiency and sustainable growth.
The Problems With Inventory
Though subscription-based retailing gives a business a reliable revenue stream, it ups the pressure on inventory management.
There are some of the biggest hurdles in the manual processes we see out there:
- Accurately predicting subscriber demand: Subscription retail is not like the one-off purchase of traditional retail. This is about anticipating continual demand for products/services over a long time. And this requires forecasting the number of new and existing subscribers, their needs, AND predicting how much customer churn there will be. When subscriber demand is miscalculated, that means overstocking or shortages.
- Personalising: Customers expect personalised experiences, which demands that retailers keep inventory that’s diverse enough to please all individual customer behaviour and preferences, but not too much that they suffer from overstock.
- Delivery management: Recurring deliveries require good, consistent coordination from stock to fulfilment. What makes it tricky is that customers change their agreements- they add things on, the change their orders, they downsize, they push back their renewals, or cancel early. That’s like walking a tightrope without a balancing pole.
- Supply chain disruptions: Everyone’s vulnerable to supply chain problems. But it’s much more difficult for subscription retailers, because their customers expect fulfilment on time, over and over. And when there are delays, no matter how legit the reason, customers run to the competition. Why wouldn’t they?
- Returns and exchanges: Hear that? It was a collective scream from every subscription retailer out there at the mention of those words. They’re not so bad in real life. But with subscriptions, it can have a knock-on impact on not only stock, but a yearly or monthly fee.
- Trends and seasonality: It doesn’t matter how steady the stream of revenue subscriptions bring in – if the retail offering pays no attention to seasonality and trends, it spells trouble. Change is the name of the game in retail, so subscription offerings need to be as agile as possible.
- Scaling: The idea of growing the customer base can be terrifying for teams that are barely keeping up as it is. Scaling means expanding product offerings and warehouse space. That’s more risk. More time. More chances for mistakes. More financial loss.
Each of these problems leads to higher costs, inefficient operations, unhappy customers and churn.
If this sounds like you, and you need to tackle and eliminate these inventory challenges, you’re going to need the right subscription management tools. It’s the only way to grow full steam ahead with your customers.
Here’s the only thing you need
Though there are multiple tools that can help you with your subscription retail inventory woes, they’re all powered by one thing – automation.
Here’s what the best automated subscription management solutions can give you:
- Advanced complex demand forecasts: AI-driven analysis looks at historical data, subscriber behavior, trends, and seasonal changes to predict future demand with a lot more accuracy. That cuts way back on expensive overstock and stockout crises.
- Customization capabilities: An automated CRM helps you track individual customer preferences and purchasing history, create micro-segments, and customises and personalizes the offerings your business gives to each customer.
- Management of recurring delivery: Streamlined and automated scheduling and tracking of recurring deliveries clear the decks for you. This includes adjusting inventory levels based on renewal dates, frequency of deliveries, and term changes. Cut back on human error. Let your customers get their products on time, every time.
- Supply chain visibility: Real-time visibility helps your business stay agile and proactive, instead of reactive. Monitoring stock levels at different stages and locations helps you negotiate any disruptions before they impact your subscribers.
- Simplified returns/exchanges: When this is automated (and integrated with your inventory) you will always be able to efficiently handle returns and exchanges. Inventory levels and subscriber accounts will be updated. Customers will be a lot happier.
- Scalability: You’ll welcome growth because logistically it won’t matter how much or how fast you grow. Boost your warehouses and offering. Integrate with your other business systems and get the seamless end-to-end operational flow.
It’s the one all-encompassing solution to overcome inventory challenges.
You get everything when and where you need it.
You’ll cut operational and error-related costs.
You’ll stabilise your supply chain and delivery process.
You’ll crush customer churn.
And you’ll have the time and ability to scale as much as you want.
Conclusion
The business of retail subscriptions is not for the faint of heart.
That’s why you need more than just a great product offering. You need more than an excellent product offering.
You need things to run themselves instead of letting them run you.
Why not use automation to turn your inventory obstacles into opportunities?
Leverage the technology that’s waiting for you so that you’ll have the time to take your subscription retail business to the next level.
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