Taking stock in your stock: Organizing the backroom in your store

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Originally Posted On: https://talk-retail.co.uk/taking-stock-in-your-stock-organizing-the-backroom-in-your-store/

A very good example is the backroom. The backroom in any store is a critical part of your business location. It’s the headquarters of the entire operation, and it’s where you receive shipments, as well as the place workers have their break. So what can you do to ensure that the space functions properly?

As stockrooms have high ceilings former building up is the best way to maximize the space. Getting some louvre panels can help, not just in terms of storing documentation, but if you have a small space to play with, you’ve got to build up. It’s a very simple way to make the most of any cubby backroom.

If you haven’t invested in it already, inventory management software is the perfect way to keep everything running efficiently. When it comes to doing stock control, you will be able to use the software to predict how much merchandise you will need to come in, as well as when. The big problem we have is ordering too much, and not having it sell as quickly. An overstocked storeroom is more than annoying! Using the right inventory system for you can help at the end of the season. You’ll be able to save time, and not need to do an entire stock count. This means that your staff are better suited elsewhere. And even if you haven’t got the budget for this sort of software, the lesson is simple: have a system! If you have a storeroom that has a collection of ceiling tiles and there is no organisation, at the very least have things labelled “ceiling tiles 600×600– cream” or “ceiling tiles- backsplash” and so on. A system is essential, whatever the budget.   

Storerooms can be very dark, dingy spaces, and when customers don’t go back there, it can be a space that’s left to rot. But when it comes to serving a customer quickly, you need good lighting back there. Because if you end up losing certain items or telling customers you haven’t got something in stock, only to find it later on, this is losing the customer in the simplest of ways. And when your staff are doing stocktaking, they need adequate lighting, not just so they can see what they’re doing, but also, so they can stay awake! We all know that inventory work is a very boring task, so why don’t we make it a bit easier for ourselves?

It may sound obvious but every little cubby hole can be used for some sort of storage. Make sure that every little space doesn’t go to waste. Even if there’s a small space at the very back of the store going unused, you could put Christmas decorations there. There is a space for everything in the storeroom.

Getting organised will make everything run so much smoother. As a storeroom can be one of those areas that we tend to avoid, or not maintained as well as we should, having a good organisational system in place, as well as these handy tools, could make all the difference.