Opening a new store is about more than painting the walls and getting the registers ready. Logistics providers play a vital role in the process. Without proper inventory management solutions, a new store can turn into a total disaster right from the start. Thankfully, there are some simple preparatory steps you can take to ensure your store opening goes smoothly.
Inform the Warehouse about the New Store as Soon as Possible
You will likely spend months getting your new store ready, and your warehouse can use that time to prepare their end. When you first make plans to open the new store, talk to your warehouse about what you can do to help everything go smoothly. If the warehouse needs to make space for the new influx of inventory, they have time to do so. As with any business venture, strong communication will improve every element of the process.
Make Sure Your Warehouse Can Handle the Transition
Your logistics provider could make or break your new store opening. If they do not have the inventory management systems and overall efficiency to handle a new store opening, you may experience significant delays your end. For instance, let’s say that you open a new online store and sell out a full line of products the first day. Will your warehouse be able to handle the large volume of order fulfillment services to come? Will the products ship out quickly and without damage so first-time customers become long-time customers? These are the questions you have to ask yourself before you put your new store in the hands of a warehouse.
Overflo is an experienced third party logistics provider that has handled hundreds of new store openings in the past. Our team is trained to adjust to changes in demand, inventory levels, order picking, and more. With us your side, your risks will be at an absolute minimum.
Product Displays Should Be Handled with Care
If you are opening a brick and mortar location, you may have a large number of product displays sent to or from the warehouse. These should be handled with care so they can show off your merchandise. Many product displays have glass shelves that can be easily broken during transport. If they are packed, shipped and stored properly, you won’t have to worry about that.
Learn from Previous Store Openings
If you have opened other stores in the past, think back to some of the headaches you experienced along the way. There is almost always some kind of issue that comes up, but many problems can be prevented with proper preparation. Whether the issue happened within your business or with the logistics provider, take precautionary steps to avoid a similar hiccup with the next opening.
As long as you keep the flow of communication going at all times, your warehouse will be a vital asset to your new store opening. Good luck!
Give Overflo a call at 1-800-626-0616 to learn about our warehouse, distribution center and order fulfillment services in Maryland.