In the rapidly evolving world of omnichannel retail, managing inventory across various channels is crucial for success. According to a survey by the Harvard Business Review, 73% of consumers use multiple channels during their shopping journey, and retailers who successfully manage their inventory across these channels see a 20% increase in customer satisfaction.
Effective inventory management ensures that the right products are available at the right locations, minimizing stockouts and overstock situations. One key aspect of inventory management is handling inventory transfers, which facilitate the internal movement of inventory between warehouses and stores.
This blog explains how HotWax Commerce streamlines the process of managing inventory transfers when retailers use Shopify POS and NetSuite, ensuring efficient inventory flow within an omnichannel retail environment.
The Role of Shopify POS and NetSuite
Shopify POS is a versatile point-of-sale system designed for retailers using Shopify eCommerce. It offers a unified ecosystem where online and offline sales converge, providing retailers with a comprehensive view of their business. However, while Shopify POS excels in many areas, it lacks robust features for inventory receiving and internal inventory transfers.
NetSuite, on the other hand, is a powerful ERP system widely used by retailers for its extensive capabilities in financials, inventory management, and more.
By leveraging the ready integration of HotWax Commerce with Shopify POS and NetSuite, retailers can bridge the gap, streamlining inventory management across their entire retail network.
Importance of Keeping Inventory Data Synchronized Across All the Systems
In omnichannel retail, maintaining synchronized inventory data across Shopify POS, NetSuite, and HotWax Commerce is crucial for effective inventory management.
HotWax Commerce synchronizes the Available to Promise (ATP) inventory to eCommerce platforms and performs inventory allocations for online orders. Any discrepancy in inventory data can lead to incorrect inventory allocations, impacting order fulfillment efficiency and customer satisfaction.
For example, consider a retailer creating a transfer order in NetSuite to move excess inventory from one store to the warehouse. When the store ships the inventory, the inventory level of the product at the store is decremented. Once the warehouse receives the inventory, the inventory level at the warehouse is incremented to reflect this movement.
However, if this update isn't synchronized to Shopify POS and NetSuite, several problems arise.
Shopify POS will still reflect the inventory levels that no longer exist at the store, leading to potential sales of non-existent stock.
NetSuite will reflect lower inventory levels at the warehouse than it actually has if the received inventory isn't updated, leading to underestimations of available stock for order fulfillment. These discrepancies can cause incorrect inventory allocations for online orders because the system believes inventory is unavailable when it actually is, leading to potential rejections and order delays.
How HotWax Commerce addresses These Issues?
HotWax Commerce ensures that inventory data is continually synchronized across all systems to avoid any discrepancies:
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Any increase in inventory at the store from new receipts or reductions from fulfillments is automatically synchronized in HotWax Commerce and Shopify POS in real-time. This ensures that the store inventory levels are always accurate.
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Receipts from new inventory in stores and fulfillment data are regularly synchronized to NetSuite. This keeps the ERP inventory numbers accurate at all times, reflecting the true stock levels across all locations.
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HotWax Commerce performs a daily sync from NetSuite to ensure inventory changes in the warehouse are reflected in HotWax Commerce. This synchronization is crucial for maintaining accurate inventory counts across all systems.
Why Inventory Transfers are Essential?
Retailers create transfer orders in NetSuite to move inventory from one location to another, maintaining optimal inventory levels and ensuring products are available where they are needed most. Common inventory transfers are from:
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Warehouse to Store: When there is a need to replenish inventory at retail stores from the central warehouse or distribution center, inventory transfers can be initiated to move the required items from the warehouse to the stores.
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Between Stores: In cases where one store has excess inventory that another store requires, inventory transfers can be used to move inventory directly between stores, optimizing stock levels across the retail network.
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Store to Warehouse: Sometimes, stores might need to return excess or unsold inventory back to the warehouse for consolidation or redistribution. Inventory transfers facilitate this movement from the stores back to the warehouse.
HotWax Commerce offers a suite of apps that streamlines inventory receiving and stock transferring in stores for retailers using Shopify POS and NetSuite. These apps are embedded in Shopify POS, enabling retailers to efficiently manage transfer orders in stores.
Here’s how HotWax Commerce simplifies the end-to-end inventory transfer process in different scenarios while keeping inventory synchronized across all the systems:
Warehouse to Store Inventory Transfers
Fig 1: Warehouse to Store Transfer Order
Scenario: Replenishing Store Inventory
A fashion retailer has a central warehouse and multiple store locations. The flagship store in downtown faces high demand for a new summer collection, leading to a shortage. The store manager requests 200 units of the summer collection from the central warehouse.
In NetSuite, a warehouse-to-store transfer order is created. The warehouse manager ships 150 units initially and plans to send the remaining 50 later. This creates two fulfillment records in NetSuite.
HotWax Commerce takes over from here.
HotWax Commerce offers a Receiving App for store associates to receive new inventory at their store. The app’s user-friendly interface ensures a smooth receiving process, even for users with minimal training.
HotWax Commerce synchronizes the shipped fulfillment record from NetSuite and generates an inbound shipment of 150 units. This inbound shipment is automatically reflected in the Receiving App at the flagship store. Store associates at the store use the app to receive the first shipment, which increments the inventory counts of the product in HotWax Commerce. Once received, the receipt is synchronized to NetSuite. This ensures the latest inventory counts are updated in both HotWax Commerce and NetSuite.
The second shipment of 50 units, once shipped, follows the same process.
When is inventory reduced in HotWax Commerce for inventory shipped from warehouses?
The second shipment of 50 units, once shipped, follows the same process.
HotWax Commerce ensures that inventory data remains accurate and up-to-date across all systems. When the warehouse ships the inventory, the inventory count in HotWax Commerce is synchronized during the daily sync of inventory data from NetSuite. This process reduces the inventory count of the products at the warehouse in HotWax Commerce, ensuring that inventory levels are accurately reflected across the all connected systems.
Store to Warehouse Inventory Transfers
Fig 2: Store to Warehouse Transfer Order
Scenario: Returning Unsold Inventory
A home décor retailer needs to return unsold seasonal items to the warehouse for storage until the next season. The suburban store has 80 units of winter-themed décor that didn’t sell out.
A store-to-warehouse transfer order is created in NetSuite. HotWax Commerce synchronizes this transfer order, automatically reflecting it in the Fulfillment App at the suburban store where store associates can create shipments and pick, pack, and ship the 80 units back to the warehouse, which also automatically decrements the inventory of the product at the store.
As the warehouse receives these items, the inventory counts are increased in NetSuite, ensuring accurate tracking of returned goods. This synchronization ensures that both HotWax Commerce and NetSuite maintain consistent and accurate inventory records.
To remain continually synchronized with the latest inventory information from NetSuite, inventory count for the units received in the warehouse is synchronized from NetSuite to HotWax Commerce during this daily sync of inventory. This process is scheduled during off-peak hours, often taking place in the late hours of the night or in the early morning.
Store to Store Inventory Transfers
Fig 3A: Store to Store Transfer Order - Fulfillment from Uptown Store
Fig 3B: Store to Store Transfer Order - Receiving at Midtown Store
Scenario: Balancing Stock Levels
A fashion retailer has two stores: one in Midtown and another in Uptown. The Midtown store is running low on a trending jacket, while the Uptown store has excess inventory. The store managers decide to transfer 50 units from Uptown to Midtown.
A store-to-store transfer order is created in NetSuite. HotWax Commerce synchronizes this transfer order which is then automatically reflected in the Fulfillment App at the Uptown store where store associates can create shipments and pick, pack, and ship the 50 units for the Midtown store. Once successfully shipped, inventory count of the product in Uptown is automatically decremented in HotWax Commerce.
This shipment is then synchronized to NetSuite, which creates the fulfillment record in NetSuite and also decrements the inventory of the product for the Uptown store.
HotWax Commerce synchronizes this shipped fulfillment record from NetSuite and automatically generates an inbound shipment of 50 units. This inbound shipment is then automatically reflected in the Receiving App at the Midtown store. Store associates at the store receive the shipment, and the inventory levels are incremented for the product. Once received, the receipt is synchronized to NetSuite. This ensures the latest inventory counts are updated in both HotWax Commerce and NetSuite.
This efficient inventory transfer process ensures that the Midtown store can meet customer demand without delay.
Why Effective Inventory Transfer Management Matters?
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Optimized Inventory Levels: Ensures that each store has the right amount of stock to meet customer demand without overstocking or understocking.
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Improved Customer Satisfaction: Timely inventory replenishment prevents stockouts, leading to better customer experiences.
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Accurate Inventory Tracking: Keeps inventory records up-to-date in Shopify POS and NetSuite, that helps in minimizing discrepancies and enabling better decision-making.
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Inventory transfers from transfer orders play a crucial role in ensuring that inventory is optimally distributed across the retail network. By using HotWax Commerce to manage inventory transfers, retailers can maintain accurate stock levels, streamline receiving processes, and ensure that inventory data is synchronized across Shopify POS, NetSuite, and HotWax Commerce. This reduces the risk of stock discrepancies, improves order fulfillment efficiency, and enhances overall inventory management.
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Automated Synchronization: HotWax Commerce automatically synchronizes transfer order data between NetSuite and Shopify POS, ensuring real-time updates.
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User-Friendly Apps: The Inventory Receiving App and Store Fulfillment App simplify the process for store associates, reducing training time and increasing efficiency.
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Detailed Reporting: HotWax Commerce provides detailed reports on inventory transfers, helping retailers monitor and manage inventory movements effectively.
Whether it’s moving inventory from the warehouse to stores, returning unsold stock to the warehouse, or balancing inventory between stores, HotWax Commerce provides the tools and capabilities needed to enhance inventory management and support retail success.
To get started with HotWax Commerce, contact an expert today!
