{"id":2118,"date":"2021-06-14T13:30:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T13:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/blog\/restocking-inventory\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T21:24:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:24:42","slug":"restocking-inventory","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.shipbob.com\/au\/blog\/restocking-inventory\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Inventory Restocking? Methods, Tips, and Restocking Automation Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Table of Contents<\/p>

** Minutes<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

What is inventory restocking?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does inventory restocking consist of?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens when you don\u2019t have a strong inventory restocking method<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 inventory restocking methods<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

3 tips for restocking inventory<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automate your inventory restocking with ShipBob<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Get started with ShipBob<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Improve inventory management with ShipBob’s WMS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restocking inventory FAQs<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Imagine you run an online store for your premium roasted coffee. On average, you sell 3,000 units of coffee bags a month. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the blue, your order volume doubles. You find yourself scrambling to restock inventory since your best-selling coffee flavours keep going out of stock, losing out on both sales and customer trust.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being able to replenish stock<\/a> to meet demand and keep costs low requires a well thought-out strategy. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019re struggling to optimise inventory levels, this article walks you through inventory restocking tips and best practices, so you can better manage your supply chain<\/a> and consistently meet demand. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is inventory restocking?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Inventory restocking refers to the process of replenishing products at the right time and at the right place based on demand and projected sales. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When done right, it leads to optimisation, ensuring that you don\u2019t miss any sales opportunities without overstocking (which leads to higher carrying costs<\/a>, dead stock, and other inventory issues).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you are getting started, you may blindly order a seemingly random quantity of inventory and hope you sell through it. While this method can work for small businesses operating out of their own homes, as you grow you will need a more sophisticated model.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Restocking inventory is more than just ordering more product from a supplier and putting it on the shelves. It requires proper inventory allocation<\/a> and insights into demand, as well as an understanding of production lead time<\/a> and how long it takes to receive and store inventory to prepare for retail fulfilment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does inventory restocking consist of?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Restocking inventory is a critical cog in the inventory optimisation<\/a> wheel, but it\u2019s a challenge when you can\u2019t predict the future. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whether it\u2019s leading up to the holiday shopping season, or an influencer shares your product with their followers, demand can shift at any time, making it hard to anticipate.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are ways to strategically restock inventory based on what you know at the SKU level. <\/span>Here is an overview of what inventory restocking consists of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing when to restock<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Optimising your replenishment cycle is all about knowing when and how often you should restock inventory. To make a strategic decision, it\u2019s important to implement tools and technology that help you track inventory<\/a> in real time, especially since ecommerce inventory<\/a> is constantly moving through the supply chain (and there are often delays along the way). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are different inventory apps<\/a> on the market that make it easy to forecast demand<\/a> based on historical sales trends, so you can make a better judgement call on the best time to reorder at SKU level. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep in the mind that you will also have to think through timelines for different stages of the supply chain, from how long it takes to receive inventory from your supplier to how quickly your team can get inventory on the shelves.  <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing what to restock<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Depending on how many SKUs you sell, you might need to take the inventory restocking process a step further. Having an understanding of what items are selling faster than others can help you optimise and restock inventory based on demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This helps to avoid stocking the same amount of each product, even though one item might be a slower seller. You may also find certain SKUs rarely sell and may save you money to discontinue them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Implementing ways to gain full visibility into inventory levels can also help you understand where there is most demand (especially if you store inventory across different locations). <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Knowing how to restock<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Knowing how to restock inventory efficiently and quickly requires the support of a team and technology. Inventory restocking is more than simply reordering stock<\/a> \u2014 you have to consider your inventory storage<\/a> and receiving processes and how quickly you can get inventory prepared to sell.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are going to ramp up, you may place a larger order of inventory. Will you have adequate space for it? Will you need to reorganize<\/a> or re-rack your warehouse? Making changes to warehouse setup<\/a> can take a long time and a lot of planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another process that impacts inventory restocking is how efficiently you manage returns<\/a>. Returns need to be processed quickly, so you understand how many items returned are sellable and can be placed back on the shelves for future sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happens when you don\u2019t have a strong inventory restocking method<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Poor inventory restocking processes can negatively impact your store\u2019s bottom line, from losing out on sales to overspending on logistics costs<\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By failing to implement <\/span>stock control<\/span><\/a> processes and improving <\/span>inventory accuracy<\/span><\/a>, you will face several inventory managemen<\/a>t issues that can impact inventory restocking. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the most common inventory restocking challenges. <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inventory stockouts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When you fail to order inventory on time, you risk dealing with stockouts. <\/span>Stockout costs<\/span><\/a> can be significant, especially when it<\/span> happens on a regular basis, leading<\/span> to lost customers, canceled orders, and sometimes even negative online customer reviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the many ways to avoid stockouts is to calculate how much safety stock makes sense to store. That way, if there is a sudden surge in demand, you have extra inventory to avoid any fulfilment delays. You should also take supply chain issues into account, knowing that shipping from overseas comes with its own set of challenges (e.g., delays at ports).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To accurately calculate safety stock<\/a>, all you need is the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n