Liquor Store Inventory Control: Basic vs. Advanced Technology

In a liquor store, potential customers and employees have access to thousands of dollars in beverages. Inventory shrinkage can result due to lack of management, theft, and disorganization. Fortunately, liquor store software for retail liquor stores provides basic and advanced technology to cover your inventory needs. 

Understanding Liquor Store Inventory Control

When choosing liquor store software, it’s important to avoid systems that take excessive amounts of time to manage. While some systems may allow stores to tightly control inventory through radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and other advanced technology, this can be very expensive. In addition to high-cost equipment, training employees to use new inventory tracking methods will be an additional expense as well.

To balance these two factors, it’s valuable to have a basic understanding of existing shrinkage rates. On average, most retail stores attempt to maintain shrinkage rates at less than two percent. Out of $100,000 in sales, most companies expect a maximum of $2,000 in inventory shrinkage. However, this can vary based on location. Areas with higher levels of crime often have higher shrinkage rates.

Basic Technology

There are several ways to manage liquor store inventory control. With generalized inventory management, a store keeps track of all inventory items. It is not possible to differentiate one inventory item from another one if they share the same barcode. This type of liquor store software usually works well for lower-cost items. For example, liquor products under $50 are usually not tracked on an individual basis. However, tighter tracking may be needed for more expensive products.

For very low-cost items, the best way to manage shrinkage is by limiting access. For example, many liquor stores offer 50 mL liquor bottles for a few dollars. Instead of tracking these in a store’s inventory, it’s usually a good idea to store these behind the counter. Since customers can’t directly access them, the risk of shrinkage will often be lower.

Advanced Technology

If a store carries very high-end products, it’s a good idea to use individual inventory tracking. If possible, each high-cost item should have its own RFID. As the item is moved around the store, its location can be tracked. If the item is removed from the store without being purchased, it’s also possible to have an alarm sound through the liquor store inventory control system. Liquor store software can also be used to track stolen products.

For more information about liquor store inventory control and liquor store software, please visit: https://www.mpowerbeverage.com/