Global eCommerce opens the door to considerable growth, but you can only be as successful as your operations. For instance, you can’t do well on the global stage if you’re battling inventory management issues behind the scenes. You need real-time information about your inventory across every region, channel, and point of fulfillment to make well-informed, strategic decisions about everything from forecasting to allocation. And you need tech tools designed for inventory visibility, control, and speed. Read on to discover how top global brands make it happen.
Best practices for regional inventory allocation
Now that you know more about how global inventory management works, here’s how you can put it into action in a practical sense. Remember, the number one goal is to place the right inventory in the right region at the right time.
Balance central control with regional flexibility
Use a hybrid model to combine centralized oversight with local responsiveness. This keeps things organized and transparent at the HQ level while offering the kind of adaptability selling across regions requires, such as different timing, logistics, and even categories of SKUs. Hybrid models are the most effective structures for global brands.
Match inventory to local demand
To reduce extra shipping and logistics costs and future markdowns, take the time to understand which inventory works best in which regions. Cross-border commerce also requires you to be savvy about regional preferences, seasonality, and market timing differences. Regardless of the popularity of your brand and your products, there will always be nuances when it comes to which products sell best in which regions. Always prioritize demand when you allocate inventory, and understand that the same products will require different stock levels in different regions and may even call for different size packs and colors.
Set reorder points and safety stock
Use your wholesale platform to set reorder points for every region, so that whenever a SKU or category of SKUs dips to a predetermined point, its replenishment will be ordered automatically. Use demand patterns to uncover those strategic reorder points.
It’s also a great idea to send a certain amount of safety stock to each of your warehouses. You can almost think of it as physical inventory’s answer to insurance. Safety stock greatly increases the odds that you’ll still be able to sell and ship goods to retailers even if you experience a sudden increase in demand, shipping delays, supply chain delays, or other events and scenarios that could prevent you from receiving timely replenishments. Not only is this an important move to protect your bottom line, but it’s also significant in maintaining the health of your relationships with retailers.
Technology platforms that make it possible
Technology is the backbone of modern global inventory management. Manual processes are often too slow for multi-region operations, and they’re notorious for being prone to error. Use connected platforms instead, so you can act on your inventory data in real time.
Use a centralized inventory system
A centralized system creates a single view of inventory across markets and channels. This gives you better control and visibility. It also reduces duplicate work, reporting gaps, and manual errors.
Connect orders, fulfillment, and reporting
You can greatly improve inventory management when you connect orders, fulfillment, and reporting. Your teams will have reliable insights into what’s available, what’s committed, and what needs to be replenished. This value of this level of operational clarity can’t be emphasized enough. What’s more, your teams will be able to enhance the ways in which they coordinate with one another across functions.
Enable wholesale teams with shared data
If you want to scale across the globe successfully, it’s important to look at your tech stack, data, and processes. Your wholesale teams need access to the same inventory data as your teams in operations and merchandising. Quality data also improves alignment when it’s shared across sales, planning, and fulfillment.
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