Inventory Planning Made Easy: How AiStock Can Revolutionize Your Supply Chain

Table Of Content

1. Let’s take a look at what Inventory Planning is and why is it important?
2. Inventory Planning is important for the following reasons:
3. What are some factors that sellers need to consider when it comes to Inventory Planning?
4. What does AI Stock Offer? 
5. Any customer success story that comes to mind?
6. Watch the full interview with AiStock

Let’s face it: it’s overwhelming to figure out all the moving pieces involved in running a successful eCommerce business. And in shopping seasons like now, forecasting and planning inventory can be a hit or miss even for those who have been doing this for a long time. 

In this Seller Fuel Blog, we sat down with Richard Prasojo of AiStock to talk about inventory planning and forecasting.

Richard Prasojo is the CEO and founder of AiStock, a One-click Supply Chain for Amazon sellers to change the way they operate their e-commerce store with inventory planning and cash flow projections. He is on the mission to give ecommerce merchants the solutions and power to sell anything at all times and build the most profitable businesses.

During the pandemic in 2020, Richard saw that supply chain could be a bottleneck, and that people seem to take it for granted. He also found that most business owners are good with product launching but they seem to have problems with operations and most importantly, with inventories… With this realization, Richard came up with a perfect solution and AiStock was born.

Let’s take a look at what Inventory Planning is and why is it important?

Inventory planning is a process of determining just the right amount of inventory to have on hand at any given time, and as needed.

It involves a lot of forecasting demand for products, figuring out the appropriate safety stock levels, and deciding about when to order more inventory. The main goal of inventory planning is to make sure that a company has enough inventory to meet customers’ growing demands, while also minimizing costs associated with holding too much inventory, or over stocking.

Inventory Planning is important for the following reasons:

• Having the right amount of inventory on hand can help your company meet customer demand and avoid stockouts, which can lead to lost sales.
• Holding too much in inventory, or being overstocked can cost a lot, as it ties up the company’s work capital and can lead to a higher storage and insurance costs. 
• Inventory planning helps a company to manage its production schedule, by making sure that the necessary materials and components are available when needed. 
• Inventory planning is very helpful in keeping a company up to date with trends in customer demand, which can inform product development and marketing strategies.

Considering all this, we asked Richard his insights and experience on some very important questions when it comes to Inventory Planning…

What are some factors that sellers need to consider when it comes to Inventory Planning?

When it comes to inventory planning, there are several factors that sellers need to consider to ensure they have the right amount of inventory to meet customer demand while minimizing costs. 

Some of the most important factors that Richard considers when Inventory Planning include:

• Reorder point: The minimum inventory level at which a seller needs to reorder products to avoid stockouts needs to be established.
• Inventory Bound Optimization: Inventory Bound Optimization (IBO) is a supply chain management technique that aims to optimize inventory levels by setting minimum and maximum thresholds for inventory. The objective of IBO is to maintain inventory levels within a specific range, also known as inventory bounds, to minimize inventory holding costs while ensuring that enough inventory is available to meet customer demand.
• Time Bound Optimization: This is an essential aspect of inventory planning because they help to ensure that inventory levels are optimized for the specific time period. Time-bound techniques involve setting time-based goals and targets for inventory levels, based on expected demand patterns, lead times, and other factors. By setting specific targets for inventory levels within a particular time frame, businesses can better manage inventory levels and ensure that they have enough stock to meet customer demand while minimizing holding costs.

What does AI Stock Offer? 

Headquartered in Portland, AI Stock aims to empower Amazon sellers with the right inventory and cash flow tools to grow successful businesses in the years to come.

We’ve built our tools and services to encompass all sellers with any model and any level of experience including Amazon FBA or Amazon FBA as well as Wholesalers, Private Label Sellers, and Agencies.

We want to help sellers figure out when to place their next orders in order to manage the right cashflow for their businesses.

Any customer success story that comes to mind?

Richard recalls one customer that succeeded because he learned how to plan the whole inventory and cash flow very well and had an exit.

As simple as that, if you know the process then you can plan for an exit.. It’s not rocket science but you must learn the process well in order for you to succeed in any business. If we really want to have a total transformation in our level of optimization for our eCommerce operations, we need to understand what is the most important aspect of it. 

It could be very complicated if you have more SKUs, but with the help on AI Stock you can always make things run smoothly and run by itself. 

Overall, Richard and AIStock want us to remember one thing:

Effective inventory planning and cashflow projection are crucial for a successful business. Stay on top of your finances and plan ahead for a brighter, more profitable future.

Watch the full interview with AiStock