Run a profitable clothing store

Chapter 40 Clothing Store Daily Process and Inventory Management (5)
Experienced operators know that there will be some problems in each inventory, many of which have occurred before.Therefore, take precautions before taking inventory, so as not to make the same mistake.

3. Publish the inventory date and inventory plan

The time for inventory should usually be selected when the business volume is low.Before starting the inventory, it is necessary to formulate the working time and workload required for each stage of the inventory, so as to ensure the steady progress of the inventory.

4. Arrange goods in clothing stores and warehouses to form a good storage system
Organize the price tags and storage locations of different categories of clothing, and number the corresponding shelves, conceive the location map of the inventory, etc. This series of activities will help to form a good storage system and inventory environment.It should be noted that after the shelf position is relatively determined and numbered, the operator should not casually move the position-located products.

5. Suspend or reduce cash business

Since the inventory needs to check the overall situation of the property and materials according to different inventory requirements, for example, during the comprehensive inventory, the cash and securities of each item need to be counted centrally, so it is necessary to appropriately reduce or suspend the cash during the inventory business.

6. Fill in the various forms before the inventory
For clothing stores with large inventory or busy business, it may be necessary to pre-fill the form to shorten the time for formal inventory.Therefore, the inventory personnel can fill in part of the materials in advance.

7. Pay attention to the special circumstances that occur in the inventory
In the inventory, for the clothing industry, there may be market price adjustments, which are very beneficial or unfavorable to itself.At this time, no matter whether the operator is willing or not, he should try his best to make a temporary and quick thorough inventory, so as to prevent problems before they happen when dealing with changes.

Inventory Officer Responsibilities

When taking inventory, according to the different responsibilities, it can be divided into three categories: inventory personnel, form filling personnel, and supervision and verification personnel.Among them, the inventory personnel are mainly responsible for on-site operations and reporting data; the form filling personnel are responsible for filling in and reporting data; the verification personnel are responsible for supervising and checking the accuracy of the data.

It can be seen that the inventory personnel are the key personnel in the inventory work, and whether their responsibilities are clear will be related to the effect of the inventory.Therefore, inventory personnel should be clear about their main responsibilities.mainly includes:
(1) The inventory personnel shall sign on the inventory form before the inventory.The process of carrying out an inventory generally begins with the signature of the inventory personnel and other personnel involved in the inventory on the inventory form.This is not only the need for a serious inventory process, but also the prerequisite for effective results of the inventory, and it is also a proof of responsibility for checking accounts in the future.

(2) Before inventory personnel take inventory in front of a certain shelf, they need to check the number of the shelf, the number of the inventory table, etc. with the personnel involved in the inventory.The two parties will start the inventory after the verification is correct, so as to avoid inventory data errors caused by goods and personnel.

(3) Generally, when making an inventory of clothing, the inventory should be carried out in the order of the major categories of clothing—clothing of different specifications—clothing of different grades.And abide by the principle of inventory from left to right, from top to bottom, and in sequence.This requirement is to ensure that the inventory is carried out in an orderly manner, and it is also convenient for other personnel to check and supervise.

(4) When the inventory taker conducts specific operations on a certain garment, it should follow the order of clothing item number-clothing name-price-season code-quantity.Do not change the order arbitrarily to prevent the formation of wrong data.

(5) Inventory takers should pay attention to every corner of the clothing store and warehouse, and do not leave any dead corners.Omissions during the inventory will cause unnecessary losses to the operator, so the inventory location should be carefully observed before, during, and after the inventory.

(6) When taking inventory of clothing and reporting data, the inventor must spell out the words clearly, be careful, so that the person who completes the report and the person who supervises and checks can hear clearly.

(7) If there is no price tag or unknown price in the inventory, the stockist can solve the problem by searching for similar clothing, asking the stockist or salesperson, and checking the computer records.

In addition, the inventory personnel must be careful in their work and observation to prevent mistakes such as missed orders, duplicate orders, serial numbers, or wrong unit prices.Regardless of the quantity of the goods, they are all deposited into the account one by one.

After the inventory is completed, the operator often finds inventory losses of varying amounts when mastering the detailed inventory data.Even experienced operators can do nothing about it.How exactly do these losses arise?
The main reasons for the loss in the inventory are:

1. Problems with clothing prices
For example, errors in the pricing of clothing, errors in price change procedures, and errors in cashier operations in the computer will all cause discrepancies between the accounts and funds during the inventory.

2. There is no special record for special clothing
For example, discounted clothing is not calculated correctly or discounts are recorded incorrectly, which can also cause inventory losses.Therefore, special handling of special clothing must be emphasized in the inventory.

3. Clothing has problems in daily operations
For example, mistakes in incoming and outgoing goods, wrong documents, wrong inventory, wrong inventory and real estate caused by careless inventory, etc.After all, the storage of clothing is normal in most cases, and unexpected situations are rarely encountered. Therefore, operators should pay more attention to clothing management in daily operations.

4. ACCIDENTAL OR DISASTER SITUATIONS

For example, fire, flood, road damage and other disasters, or being bitten by insects or rats during storage, will also cause damage to goods.Especially for clothing products, the latter hazard is more common, and it is not easy to completely eliminate it.

5. Man-made reasons

If no other reasons can be found, the last thing the operator has to consider is the human factor.For example, employee stealing, customer stealing, suppliers not delivering quality or quantity, etc.

After discovering the real reason for the inventory loss, the person in charge needs to immediately calculate the loss and report the loss amount in the shortest possible time.

Then, the accountant or the operator will check the total amount of the inventory and change the file of the clothing inventory in time.For the inventory loss, after confirmation, the amount should be filled in the "loss table" separately, and the loss rate should be calculated as a reference for improving performance in the future.Loss rate = total loss ÷ sales x 100%
It should be noted that when the inventory loss is large, the operator must find out the cause in time and take emergency measures to prevent the loss from expanding.

Handle inventory issues in a timely manner
Now that they are familiar with the causes of inventory loss, how should operators deal with these problems in inventory?

First, for the price of clothing.On the one hand, operators should correct the pricing errors of clothing in a timely manner; on the other hand, operators should pay attention to verifying clothing prices before taking inventory in the future.Especially for high-priced clothing that accounts for a large proportion of the cost, it is even more important to check.

Second, for the issue of special clothing.Operators should check and take inventory of discounted clothing in a timely manner in future operations, and pay attention to adding special marks when taking inventory.When making an inventory, the inventor can remove them from the scope of the inventory first, and then carry out the inventory after all other goods have been inventoried.

Third, due to the loss of clothing caused by daily operations, operators need to strengthen the management of various personnel.For example, errors in incoming and outgoing shipments, errors in filling in documents, errors in counting goods, etc. are all problems of employees' professional ability.If you want to avoid it, you must start from the usual times, strengthen the training of employees' business skills and business management, and even establish a certain incentive mechanism or assessment mechanism to standardize employee operations and improve inventory quality.

Fourth, losses caused by accidents, such as fires, floods, etc., are usually considered abnormal losses, and are generally included in non-operating expenses because they cannot be predicted and avoided.In the case of insects and rat bites, operators are required to pay attention to the details of storage and placement of goods, and constantly improve the storage environment to better maintain the quality of clothing.

Fifth, losses caused by human factors should be treated differently.If it is done by internal employees, the quality of employees should be considered, the management of employees should be strengthened, and individual employees with bad behaviors should be dismissed if necessary.If it is a customer stealing, it is necessary to strengthen the security management of clothing stores, warehouses and other places.If it is a problem with the supplier, the operator should collect relevant data and evidence, communicate with the supplier in a timely manner, and reach a settlement agreement after confirmation by both parties.

In addition, whether the inventory cycle and methods are used properly should also be valued by operators.Because, in some cases, inventory losses are caused by too frequent or improper inventory methods.For example, frequent inventory and frequent touching of clothes by hand or machine may lead to damage and depreciation of clothes.

It can be seen that the root cause of dealing with various inventory problems lies in personnel management and daily prevention.Operators should start from these two aspects, gradually improve their own management, and eliminate various deficiencies.

Inventory considerations

One of the more obvious characteristics of inventory work is thoroughness.Only a thorough inventory of cash and goods can be considered a true inventory.Therefore, this has become the main point that has to be emphasized in the inventory of clothing stores.Some people even compare it to the fact that the army has to thoroughly check the battlefield after a war, without any blind spots or dead ends.

A thorough inventory needs to do the following:

1.Thoroughly collect clothing and other goods in warehouses and stores
Before the inventory is carried out, the operator of the clothing store should check every corner of the store and warehouse in detail.Especially the corners, under the shelves, relatively remote places in the warehouse, and places where goods have been piled up for a long time, etc., are all the objects of key investigations.Moreover, in order to collect thoroughly, the operator must do at least two investigations, and think about whether there are other leftovers during the investigation.

2.To thoroughly collect all kinds of documents

Collection of documents has always been the focus of inventory preparation.Specifically, the incoming and outgoing bills, invoices, statistical reports, cash transaction documents, bills, settlement documents, etc. that will appear in the operation of the clothing store need to be brought together, and then the categories and accounting calculation periods are distinguished, and finally the same period Bills are counted and stored together.The work is more complex and cumbersome.In particular, distinguishing the accounting period of the documents, whether it is a document in the current inventory calculation period, or whether it involves the payment for goods and accounts in the previous inventory period, requires operators or accountants to make a distinction.Therefore, the process of thoroughly collecting documents usually requires the cooperation of multiple people, and depending on the situation, it may be reviewed once or twice.

3.Thoroughly divide the inventory area

Generally, when taking inventory, several areas can be divided according to the size of the store or warehouse.Store different garments in different areas.If these areas belong to the scope of inventory, all kinds of clothing classifications and signs should be assigned to specific areas, and different numbers and identification cards should be formulated.If only part of it belongs to the scope of inventory (especially when carrying out partial inventory), it is necessary to thoroughly divide the area of ​​inventory and non-inventory.Minimize the gray clothing area between the inventory range and the non-inventory range.How much to inventory and what items to inventory, the operator should plan before starting the operation, instead of increasing the inventory while taking inventory.Unless there are special circumstances, the operator cannot easily change the inventory area after dividing the inventory area.

4.Inventory planning should be thorough

Before taking an inventory, it is recommended that the operator draw up an inventory sequence diagram.According to the space and inventory of the clothing store, the corresponding inventory sequence is formulated. In order to make full use of space and time, the inventory planning must be comprehensive and sufficient.For example, in the inventory, high-priced clothing that is afraid of pressure and moisture should be carried out first, and should be placed in a dry place close to the door of the store or warehouse as much as possible, so as to facilitate its rapid circulation and avoid clothing quality problems caused by long-term backlogs.

(End of this chapter)