To make your webshop profitable and scalable, it is essential to keep your inventory at a healthy level. Too much stock harms your cash flow, and too little stock means missing out on potential revenue.

To strike the right balance, it is important to know how to purchase strategically. In this blog, we’ll explain how to do that and what to pay attention to.

Prevent low stock and missed sales

A product might be in high demand, but if it is often sold out, you miss out on sales and the opportunity to gain loyal customers. Over time, this can become quite costly.

Here are some common reasons a product is out of stock:

• Inventory levels in your system do not match reality
• You are purchasing too little
• Manual processes like analyzing purchasing data are slowing you down
• Incorrect estimations of supplier lead times
• Seasonal or trend-based influences are not taken into account

If products are regularly sold out, it is a good idea to dive into these areas to prevent missed sales in the future.

Avoid excess inventory

The other extreme is over-purchasing every product. This increases the risk of holding unsellable stock in the long run. Too much inventory ties up cash and limits your growth. It also takes up valuable warehouse space.

To determine the ideal stock level per product, conduct a product-level analysis. Key aspects to consider:

• The average inventory value of a product. Calculate this over a longer period (e.g. the last 3 months) and compare it to the product's revenue.
• The cost of holding stock. Consider storage space, interest, risk, and more.
• The inventory turnover rate. This is the average amount of time products remain in your warehouse. Calculate it by dividing your inventory by the cost of goods sold, and multiply by 365. Example: (300 products / €9,900 cost of goods sold) × 365 days = 11.06 days turnover time.
• The lead time from your supplier. Faster delivery allows for a lower turnover rate.

With these insights, you can determine the optimal order quantity and frequency for each product. Avoid ordering too frequently, as it increases the number of repetitive tasks like receiving and preparing orders. Try to find the ideal balance.

A tidy warehouse is the foundation of a pleasant workplace and an efficient logistics process. But over time, things can get a bit messy, especially after a busy season. That’s why we recommend doing a deep clean so you can get back to working as efficiently as possible. In this blog, we’ll share how to approach it and what to keep in mind.

Counting your stock

Even if you always keep your inventory up to date, discrepancies can still occur. After all, people make mistakes. A deep clean is the perfect moment to double-check the stock of every product. This helps you avoid selling items you don’t actually have, and you might even find products you thought were out of stock.

To make counting easier, use the Picqer app. It allows you to check inventory levels for each product at any location.

Product locations

To stay organized, it’s essential that all products are assigned a location. Items from purchase orders should be given a location in your warehouse as soon as possible. If that didn’t happen during busy times, the cleanup is your chance to catch up.

In addition to assigning locations, it can also be helpful to remove certain products. For example, if a product hasn’t sold in a long time, it may be time to say goodbye. This frees up shelf space and keeps your focus on your most important products. It also helps tidy up your webshop by making the offering more focused and clear for customers.

You should store your fast-moving products as close to the packing table as possible. To identify these, run an ABC analysis in Picqer. Place A-label products nearest to the packing area, B-label products slightly further away, and C-label products in the remaining spots.

The holiday season is a time of warmth and celebration, but also a busy period for online retailers. Shoppers are on the hunt for the perfect gifts, and the number of daily orders can reach a peak.

This surge in holiday orders brings logistical challenges, both for webshops and shipping carriers. Fortunately, you can prepare in advance to manage the rush. That’s why we’ve created a checklist to help you get ready.

Organize your warehouse

Processing a large number of orders in a short time is only possible with a well-organized warehouse. As the holiday rush can ramp up quickly, it’s wise to prepare your warehouse now.

Place bestsellers in accessible locations

Most webshops have popular products, also known as “bestsellers.” Since you’ll pick these items more frequently, it’s best to place them near the packing tables. During the holidays, other products might also become popular as gift items. Move those closer to the packing area as well to reduce walking time.

Schedule more pickers and set up extra packing tables

Chances are you’ll need more staff in the warehouse during the holidays. It might even make sense to set up additional packing stations. Now is the time to plan for this and make the necessary arrangements so you’re not caught off guard later.

Ensure there’s enough walking space

More people working in the warehouse means more foot traffic. Crowded aisles or blocked pathways create delays and stress. Keep pathways clear and provide ample walking space for smooth operations.

Adjust your processes

Things tend to operate differently during the holidays. By analyzing and adapting your processes, you can maintain a calm and productive environment.

Eliminate exceptions

To streamline order processing during peak times, consider temporarily skipping non-critical tasks. For example, pause return processing or certain purchase orders. Fewer concurrent processes help maintain clarity and focus. You can catch up after the rush subsides.

Diversify your shipping options

Shipping carriers are often overwhelmed during the holidays. Be sure you have the ability to ship with multiple carriers. If one reaches capacity, you’ll have a backup option. This can be managed through direct contracts or by using a shipping platform that offers multiple carrier options.

Encourage early purchases

Spreading out orders reduces the risk of delays. Promote early shopping by highlighting the benefits on your webshop, like avoiding stock shortages or ensuring timely delivery. You can also send out newsletters to existing customers with holiday reminders.

WHITE Digital Agency, one of the largest Dutch partners of Craft CMS, has developed a Picqer integration for Craft Commerce. After a successful test phase, the Picqer plugin is now available. With this integration, webshops using Craft Commerce can import orders into Picqer in real time and process them more easily and efficiently. This gives webshop owners more control over their warehouse.

What is Craft Commerce?

Craft Commerce is the e-commerce extension for Craft CMS. It offers a powerful e-commerce platform built on a highly user-friendly and flexible CMS. It uses a custom storefront approach, allowing you to fully tailor the experience to your product range. The robust and clean interface enables you to configure advanced functionality on the frontend with ease.

About WHITE Digital Agency

WHITE Digital Agency has been operating as a digital agency since 1999 and is based in the Brainport region of Eindhoven. As a certified Craft Enterprise Partner and Craft Commerce specialist, they have extensive experience with complex projects using this content management system. With Craft Commerce, they offer a user-friendly e-commerce platform where rich content and product management seamlessly come together.

Get started

Connect your Craft Commerce webshop to Picqer today. Curious how the integration works? Visit the Craft Commerce integration page to get started.

It's October and online retailers are getting ready for the year-end rush. Black Friday and the holiday season are just around the corner. After record-breaking online sales last year during the pandemic, high volumes are expected again. But can warehouses handle it? How do you prepare your warehouse for Black Friday and the holidays? What can entrepreneurs do to get ready? These are common questions we hear around this time of year. That's why we asked our customers how they prepare for peak periods and what warehouse strategies they have in place for 2021. Anne from Case2go.nl and Jessien from AllYourGames.nl share their insights and tips.

Black Friday campaigns: yes or no this year?

After another unusual year with pandemic-related restrictions and a rise in online shopping, not every business is planning to participate in Black Friday. For companies struggling with tight margins, it’s a tough decision. Our customers Case2go and AllYourGames are participating, but with caution.

Anne: “We're promoting Black Friday through social media, newsletters and campaigns. But we’re not sure how big our participation should be, especially with uncertain stock levels. If you sell everything during Black Friday, what’s left for December?” Jessien adds: “We’re a discount-driven business. Every year it’s a challenge to determine the right discounts. We try to make a big impact through marketing to optimize sales.”

Stock purchasing has become more complicated, especially for Black Friday events. Delays and material shortages are common. Anne explains: “Shipping delays and costs have skyrocketed—transport is now 2.5 to 3 times more expensive than pre-pandemic. But we accept these costs to avoid running out of stock or losing listings on marketplaces like bol.com.”

Jessien adds: “Demand for computer chips is sky-high, which affects the availability of products like Xboxes and PlayStations.”

Anne says: “We try not to overstock. Tablet and phone cases have short life cycles and are usually only sellable for about 1.5 years. We rely on historical data to forecast what will sell well.” For Jessien, the strategy is different: “We reserve a bit more stock for each SKU as a buffer. Fortunately, game and console releases are announced well in advance so we can plan accordingly.”

Anne also gives a timely tip: “Don’t forget to account for Chinese New Year in February. Many manufacturers close during this period. If you've sold everything during the holidays, restocking in early January becomes difficult.”

Preparing your team

Anne: “We recently started using a scheduling app for staff. It shows everyone’s shifts and makes it easy to sign up for extra shifts. We also hired additional staff to handle packing, and we’ve already scheduled pickups with PostNL.”

Jessien prepares differently at AllYourGames: “During peak months, we split roles. Normally, staff pick and pack, but during busy times one group picks and another packs. This creates a continuous flow in the picking process.” He also optimizes Picqer presets: “Instead of picking 100 orders across the warehouse, we group them by aisle. That saves time.”

Customer experience and packaging

Case2go adjusts their shipping promise during the holidays to reduce customer service pressure. “Normally it’s next-day delivery for orders before 18:00. In December, we say 1–2 business days for the Netherlands and 2–5 for Belgium. That reduces complaints and negative reviews.”

Anne adds: “We include a stylus pen with each order. It costs us a bit more, but customers appreciate it.” Jessien takes a more efficient approach: “Adding extras takes about 5 seconds per order. With 4,000 daily orders, that adds up. During the holidays, our priority is getting orders out on time. We eliminate extras to keep the process clean and fast.”

Jessien has a smart packaging tip: “Use letterbox-sized packaging whenever possible. Last year, standard post wasn’t overloaded and deliveries were on time. Plus, customers don’t need to be home for delivery, which reduces returns.”

Packaging is also a priority for Case2go: “Even for low-cost items, thoughtful packaging makes a difference. We use custom envelopes and ask for customer feedback on packaging. Our delivery rating has gone up, even though delivery times haven’t changed. That extra attention pays off.”

Want to know more?

These were the experiences of Case2go.nl and AllYourGames.nl. We hope their insights help you prepare your warehouse for Black Friday. Curious how our warehouse software can support you? Get in touch with us.