Inventory Management & Catalogs

Businesses with dynamically changing portfolios require a flexible data management system and a real-time view of inventory. Both of them are essential for your business longevity and survival.

Catalog Machine allows you to create a centralized product catalog for all your needs, from online and PDF product presentation, tiered pricing, backed with the inventory management system. Today we will tell you how efficient inventory management helps to expand your business lifetime.  And how a catalog creation becomes a perfect way to manage your data. 

First things first, all you need to know about inventory management

There are multiple definitions of inventory management, as it varies from a company operation process. Generally, it refers to ordering, storing and using (selling) the company’s assets. Inventory could include finished products or raw materials and components, depending on the business and industry.However, the purpose is similar among all companies. Keep on the loop which products you have on hand, where those products are being sold, and when items are running low. 

Why is it crucial to have the right number of items in your stock?

There are two ways of consequences if you estimate your inventory stock wrong.

  • Shortage.  A shortage of inventory means lower customer satisfaction, lower sales, and lower cash flow. 
  • Abundance. A large inventory carries the risk of spoilage, theft, damage, or shifts in demand. 

If inventory management is not handled properly, it can result in a business either losing money on potential sales that can’t be filled or wasting money by stocking too much inventoryFor this reason, inventory management is vital for a business of any size. 

Are you in retail? 

Inventory management is an essential part of a business in every industry. Meanwhile, if you are operating in the retail industry, inventory management importance starts to play the first fiddle. Just because without inventory, the retail business is useless. 

Catalogs & Inventory management

A catalog combines all the inventory information you want to present or to know: wholesale and resale prices, product variants, description, image, etc. Taking this into account, a catalog could become not only a way to present to your customers up-to-date information and enable them to buy but also an effective data management system.  One of Catalog Machine clients is working in the Art industry. It’s a medium-size retail company that are organizing pictures exhibitions. They told me that they need their catalogs for data management. One catalog is equal to one exhibition. So, they can keep on track in terms of sold out and presented pictures. 

It is just one case of how the catalog could be used for effective inventory management. If you are planning to grow your business or at least stay in the game for a long time, we would recommend you to create a catalog with all your products included. 

Why Catalog Machine for your catalog and inventory management?

Display and manage your products with Catalog Machine. It’s a simple way to manage your inventory. Let me tell you what you can achieve with Catalog Machine.

  • Organize your inventory. Keep all the inventory in one place. Easily create multiple catalogs. Put your products into categories and collections. Have different variants of one product (different colours, sizes, etc.)
  • Become fast and flexible. Import product at one click using integration with Shopify, Etsy, Magneto, eBay, PrestaShop, WooCommerce, Zapier. Easily export your inventory. Create a catalog that will be presented on your website and ranked by Google.
  • Facilitate online experience. Create on Online Store and Online Catalogs. Get notified when someone places an order.
  • Scale your business. Capture and consolidate product data across all channels in real-time to serve catalog and inventory data, at scale, all the time.
  • Improve performance and customer satisfaction. Automatically present to your customers only in-stock items. Enable them to order right from the catalog or online store. 

Era of Automation: Catalog Machine integration with Zapier

Do you still believe that product marketing is time-consuming, expensive, and hard? Wrong! Welcome to the era of automation!   

Today we will share a way how to do your product online marketing in the most efficient way. 

Connect different parts of your business with one app

Going to a modern online business you will see that there are thousands of apps that will help you to automatize your workflow. Most of them are pretty useful, but you will simply have a lack of time to use all of them. 

That’s where Zapier comes up. Zapier is an online platform that connects 2000+ web apps with each other. So, you can automate a business workflow quickly and easily. Due to the efficiency that Zapier allows you to achieve, Evernote included it into the top 10 apps in 2018. 

We can bet that you’ve already heard about Zapier and it’s powerfulness. However, the secret of it is deeply connected to another app. Today we want to show you what you can achieve with a combination of Zapier and Catalog Machine.

Catalog Machine Integration with Zapier 

Catalog Machine is a necessary tool when it comes to presenting products to your clients: creating online or PDF catalogs, building your online store and even managing inventory (product stock). As we have already discussed, this is one of the first steps you should take. As it doesn’t matter how good your product is, unless no one sees it, no one buys it. 

The Catalog Machine integration with Zapier allows you not just to present and sell your product but save a lot of time. You can use this time to focus on more important things and grow your business. 

Zapier connects Catalog Machine with thousands of other apps. Google Sheets, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Gmail, Shopify and Slack are just some of them. Let’s see what you can get them in practice. 

Google Sheets, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox 

Uploading products and managing a product database is probably the most time-consuming business process. Simultaneously it’s essential to run the business properly. It gets worth it when you have to update your product database across several platforms (ex. Company’s document system, website, social media, etc.).

Now imagine how great it would be if you change a single row in Google Sheets, and the product information will be updated automatically at other platforms. Good news! Zapier allows you to do exactly this. 

You can update products, catalogs, online store in Catalog Machine from updates rows in Google Sheets or Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox CSV files. In addition, you may receive a record at Google Sheets once you receive a new order. Convenient, isn’t it?

Gmail  

Don’t want to check the platform every other minute to check if someone has made an order? Easy! Use integration with Gmail to receive an email once your customer submitted an order form. 

Shopify  

Lots of businesses have accounts and product databases on Shopify. However, like any other platform it has, it’s limitations. For example, during the conversation with Catalog Machine customers, he confessed that Catalog Machine allows him to create tiered pricing and target retailers and wholesalers at the same time. 

It would be a pity after updating your product database, start it from the very beginning at the other platform. That’s why Zapier connects Catalog Machine to Shopify, to transfer your data at one click.

All of this is just a small part of what you can achieve as a business using Catalog Machine integration with Zapier. 

Are you excited to start? Sign Up to a Catalog Machine. And follow this link to find out how to connect your Catalog Machine app with Zapier.