1. Introduction

If you run a business, you often have physical items to sell. This is called stock.

This means you need to buy stock ahead of time so that the items are available for customers at your place of business.

The business may be a factory, warehouse, market stall, a high street shop, an online shop or a mixture of all of them. It does not matter, because they all have the same problems:

  • Knowing how many items to buy in the first place
  • How many of each item you have in stock
  • When to re-order replacement stock
  • What is selling well
  • What is selling badly
  • What is getting out of date

In a very simple situation it is quite easy to keep track of things with pen and paper. But as soon as it gets slightly more complicated, it is a good idea to use the power of a computer to help you.

This is what a stock control system does. It keeps track of stocks and informs you of when to re-order along with helpful sales reports.

This mini-web will introduce you to stock control systems