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If you try to jot down the worst situations in the retail clothing business, then the first thing that will strike your mind is indeed ‘Out Of Stock’ situation. It describes that the inventory of the retailer is exhausted. This situation occurs due to various reasons. However, the two most prevalent reasons are: either the clothing retailers have not purchased wholesale apparel on time or wholesale clothing distributors have not supplied the stock on time. Whatever the case is, it directly impacts the retailer’s cash flow along with customer –brand relationship. Hence, it is very important to reduce such situation with smart planning and strategy. Here is the list of all those tips, which may help retailers to reduce out of stock situation.
Tip.1: Traditional approach
The technology has advanced a lot. Still, a manual audit of the clothing retailer’s store may help to reduce the OOS situation. Find the gaps on the shelves and order the stock from the wholesale clothing suppliers accordingly. Keep a check on the frequency and timing of these manual audits.
Tip.2: Use the point of sale data technique
Keep a check on the historical data of the sale. For example, you can check the latency period between sales to identify the availability of the product. Once you realise that this women’s apparel wholesale may go OOS, order it instantly from the wholesale apparel suppliers.
Tip.3: Tracking inventory with RFID technology
The clothing retailers can use radio frequency tags to keep a check on the inventory. This technique is most prevalent in the US. Once the retailers realize that their inventory is running out of stock, they instantly do their purchasing from wholesale clothing suppliers USA.
Tip.4: Taking the pre-orders of your customers
This one is quite effective. Retailers can ask their regular customers to submit their requirements beforehand. This will give the retailers enough time to purchase the required wholesale apparel from the wholesale apparel suppliers.
Tip.5: Check the wholesale apparel not shipped during your last order
It does happen that retailers order a specific product from the Wholesale clothing distributors but, the supplier does not ship the product. In such a case, keep a track of all such product and order them instantly to avoid the OOS situation.
Tip.6: Notifying the regular customers in advance
This one will not only help to reduce the OOS situation but, it will also increase the customer-brand relationship. Retailers can keep a track of the preferred choices and shopping frequency of the regular customers. This way they can ask the customers in advance about their next shopping plan.
Tip.7: In-demand wholesale apparel should never run out
Being a retailer, it is easy to judge what’s in and what’s not? Once, you judge this, it is advisable to keep a good inventory of all those wholesale apparel which are the flavor of the season.
These general tips will surely help the retailers to reduce the OOS situations. But if they do exist, the retailers should have a proper backup plan to reduce the damages. The list of best backup plans includes notifying customers ‘on time’, providing a reason, apologizing and offering an alternative. With the help of these, the clothing retailers can surely overcome the OOS situations.
