Do you face difficulties keeping track of your inventory? If so then the Salesforce inventory management system can help.
Inventory management is one of the most severe business operations that have a major effect on the bottom line of a business.
Most of the businesses have 20-40% of their working capital invested in the inventory( Source: Asset Panda). This means that inventory management is imperative for businesses to succeed in today’s business landscape.
For example, excessive working capital investment in inventory can cause dead stock, cutting down the profit margins. Likewise, insufficient investment can cause stockouts, and failure to meet the customer’s demands.
Maintaining the right quantity of inventory is a must for businesses to yield healthy profit margins and deliver on customer expectations. This is where Salesforce Inventory Management is helpful.
This blog will give you a detailed understanding of Salesforce Inventory Management solutions.
So, let’s get started.
What is a Salesforce Inventory Management System?
Salesforce Inventory Management System is a cloud-based solution that helps businesses of all sizes to keep track of their inventory level.
It provides businesses with access to real-time information about their inventory making it easier for them to control the inventory with accuracy.
Salesforce Inventory Management employs business intelligence (BI) to help you track customer demands and foresee their needs to maintain the right stock.
How Does Salesforce Inventory Management Work?
Salesforce Inventory Management helps businesses to track and control the goods bought, sold, stored, and used all in a centralized place.
For example, a manufacturer can use the Salesforce Inventory System to keep detailed information on raw materials they require to manufacture products. Similarly, a retailer can keep track of their stock ready to sell.
Regardless of the type of business or industry, Salesforce Inventory Management software works to help businesses maintain the right amount of goods in the right place at the right time.
It can be easily integrated with other Salesforce products such as Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, etc. to create a complete view of customer interaction to sales funnel to inventory level from a centralized place.
Let’s take the help of the following example to understand how Salesforce Inventory Management works:
Suppose an electronic retailer that sells products through online platforms, brick-the-motor stores, and third-party eCommerce stores. The retailer relies on the Salesforce Inventory Management System to manage the inventory level across the channels it sells.
Whenever a customer places an order using any channel, the Salesforce Inventory Management system automatically updates the level of inventory across all the channels in real-time.
If the inventory level goes down than the specified level, Salesforce Inventory Management can inform the business or even generate a purchase order for that particular product.
This is how Salesforce Inventory Management works.
Why is Salesforce Inventory Management Important?
Do you know nearly 34% of businesses are struggling with inventory management? These businesses sold products that were unavailable in the stock, leading to delayed shipments and affecting customer experience. In today’s time when customer experience plays a major factor in the success of businesses, such incidents can harm the business’s success. As said earlier, Salesforce Inventory Management keeps track of the inventory at all times.
This is just one reason why Salesforce Inventory Management is important, We have mentioned a few of the other reasons below:
Save Time and Money
Salesforce Inventory Management is hosted on the cloud, so businesses can easily track the inventory from anywhere irrespective of their location and device. It can be easily integrated with a Distributed Order System (DOM), so inventory can be managed effectively, reducing unnecessary costs.
Furthermore, with Salesforce you can keep track of large quantities of inventory data through a user-friendly interface.
Increases Availability of Product
Salesforce Inventory Management is not just limited to maintaining inventory, it also helps to manage complex business processes such as handling multiple warehouses, locations, channels, and vendors. All the data from these sources can be easily monitored from a centralized solution.
Salesforce provides complete accountability from order tracking to the supply chain. This means you can be confident to meet customer demands and free from the fear of being stockout or overstocked.
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Secure Sales With Confidence
Salesforce Inventory Management helps businesses keep track of their inventory in real-time. From order status, and payment details, to shipping options to customer feedback every data is updated in real-time. It can also be integrated with your eCommerce platform to make all information available in CRM.
Features of Salesforce Inventory Management
Salesforce Inventory Management offers the businesses with following features:
Inventory Tracking Across Locations
Businesses can keep track of the inventory across different locations from warehouse to vendor to customer in real-time. It also helps businesses automate the process of product transfer to move items in specific quantities from distribution locations to agents in the field.
Tracking Transfer and Return
Salesforce can keep track of product transfer and return. For example, if a product needs to be transported from one warehouse, the system will automatically update the inventory quantity at both warehouses to reflect the transfer.
It can also track the return of products. This feature is handy for eCommerce businesses that sell products with the assurance of return within a given period if they are dissatisfied with their purchase. Whenever a customer requests a return, the system will track the order and update the inventory specifying that the product has been returned.
Tracking Serial Numbers and Lots
With Salesforce Inventory Management, you can keep track of product lots and serial numbers from manufacturing to sales order fulfillment. This helps businesses to ensure the easy traceability and compliance of their products with industry standards.
Single Source of Truth
All the information from packaging to shipment can be easily accessed through a single system. Besides easy accessibility of information, this feature improves accuracy and reduces the chances of human errors.
Automate Purchase Order Generation Process
Salesforce Inventory Management can automate the process of purchase order generation directly from sales orders. Thus eliminating the need for manual work, and accelerating the process of order generation.
For example, if a customer places an order for 10 units of a product, 5 units of product A, and 5 units of product B. The system will confirm the availability of the inventory and send the purchase order to the vendor confirming the successful order.
Maintaining Reserve Inventory
Salesforce also helps you reserve inventory to meet specific orders. This helps you prioritize the orders and the needs of every customer are met.
Third-Party Integration
Salesforce Inventory Management can also be integrated with third-party systems like barcode scanners to reduce the manual work of entering inventory data manually.
Forecast Demand
Salesforce Inventory Management Solution has powerful analytics capabilities. It can analyze past data, and forecast the demand for specific products in the future thus you can maintain the right inventory level to meet customer demands.
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Best Practices for Salesforce Inventory Management
Salesforce Inventory Management is a robust solution and with the help of following best practices you can ensure the best outcomes from it
Understand Your Business and Inventory Flow
A strong foundation is the building of success. A strong understanding of your business needs and inventory flow helps you learn what to expect from the system.
The understanding of inventory flow makes it easier for you to control and manage the movement of inventory across the supply chain. You can opt for Salesforce customization to set the system according to your business needs to make sure inventory is moved precisely in the supply chain. This will help you avoid delays, reduce waste, and improve customer satisfaction.
Use ABC Analysis
ABC analysis is one of the most effective methods of inventory management that helps businesses identify their most valuable product or profitable product. With the help of ABC analysis offered by the Salesforce platform, you can prioritize your inventory based on factors like the value, and demand of each product.
For example, you can categorize the product into groups. Products with high value, but low demand can be grouped, products with moderate value and modern quantity can be placed in another, and low-value products with high demand can be placed into another group. This will help you allocate resources correctly to manage the right level of inventory.
The Quality Should be Superior
Customers are drawn to higher-quality products, therefore you should focus on maintaining the quality of your inventory.
Salesforce Inventory Management System helps businesses to maintain the quality of their products.
Salesforce Inventory Management System can help a business maintain the quality of products in several ways. It helps you gain complete real-time visibility into your inventory, so you can carry out cycle counts and generate replenishment reports. So you can ensure the quality of products by detecting defects in inventory.
Save Time and Money With Inventory Management
When storing the inventory follow the best practices to arrange the inventory in a way that maximizes the space, and accessibility of your warehouse. With the help of inventory management solutions, you can find the best way to minimize the time, cost, and risk involved in the delivery process. These practices will help you reduce spending, and increase the profit margin.
Order Your Inventory on Demand
The significant advantage of Salesforce Inventory Management is that it helps you plan the inventory replenishment process to avoid dead stocking. It can help you to know the products which are in demand and the quantity you require to meet customer’s demand. This will free up the cash flow that can be invested in other important business operations like marketing.
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How Implementing a Real-time Inventory Management System Can Help?
Implementing a real-time inventory management system can help businesses in many ways. First, you can track the inventory level in real time, so you can avoid situations like overstocking or stockouts.
Globally, businesses lose $818 billion equally, almost similar to the equivalent of the GDP of Switzerland. 52% of this loss is due to overstocking, and 44% is due to understocking.
Real-time inventory management is the most important asset for businesses that offer protection against such losses.
It can also help you anticipate the demands, evaluate the past data, and plan replenishment accordingly. As a result, businesses do not have to tie up too much capital or incur excessive storage expenses.
The implementation of a real-time inventory management system also ensures the availability of accurate and timely information on product availability, delivery status, and order tracking.
Conclusion
Salesforce Inventory Management System is one of the must-have tools for businesses of all sizes that have to deal with inventory.
If you want to implement an Inventory Management System for your business, Salesforce Consulting Services can provide great help to you. They will evaluate your inventory management needs and customize the Salesforce CRM to meet your needs precisely.
Salesforce app development companies like Inventocolabs can help you implement the Salesforce Inventory Management System for your businesses. So, let’s get connected with us, and take a step towards a real-time inventory management system working for your business’s success.
FAQ
Q 1. Is it possible to integrate Salesforce CRM with the inventory management system?
Ans. Yes, Salesforce can be easily integrated with the inventory management system you use such as Monstock, Rootstock Cloud ERP software, and more. Connect with a Salesforce development company to find out how Salesforce can be integrated with the inventory management system.
Q 2. How do I customize and extend Salesforce for my inventory needs?
Ans. Salesforce CRM is a highly customizable CRM platform. It can easily be customized to make sure your unique business needs are met. With the help of Salesforce consulting services, you can find customization opportunities.
Sandeep Agrawal
Sandeep Agrawal is the visionary CTO at InventCoLabs, bringing innovation to life through his technical expertise. With a passion for cutting-edge technologies, Sandeep leads the team in developing robust solutions. His dedication and continous efforts to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible defines his role as a transformative and innovative force in the tech industry.
