Stock control is how businesses track, manage, and optimize the flow of products in and out of their warehouses. Do it right, and youâll cut costs, avoid stockouts, and delight customers. Do it poorly, and youâll lose money and probably your sanity. Think of it as the difference between opening a fridge thatâs neatly stocked versus one that smells suspiciously like old leftovers.
Stock control is just keeping tabs on what youâve got, whatâs coming in, and whatâs going out. Picture it like running your fridge. You know when youâre low on milk, when youâve overbought eggs, and when that mystery container in the back is a biohazard waiting to happen. Businesses face the same thing, only instead of a dozen eggs, itâs thousands of SKUs.
And unlike your fridge, the stakes are higher. Poor stock control costs businesses billions in lost sales every year (Statista). Thatâs not just some rounding error, itâs the kind of mistake that makes accountants sweat through their shirts.
Thatâs why companies lean on strategies like ecommerce warehousing, pick and pack fulfillment centers, or even Shopify fulfillment to keep their inventory humming instead of gasping for air.
According to McKinsey, supply chains with tight stock management outperform peers with 15% lower costs. Thatâs the kind of number that makes CFOs smile for once.
This is where it gets messy. People throw around "stock" and "inventory" like theyâre the same thing. Theyâre not.
For a full breakdown, check our post on inventory vs stock. Itâll clear up the âtomato, tomahtoâ problem once and for all.
This covers receiving shipments, logging SKUs, and updating counts. A sloppy check-in today equals a stock nightmare tomorrow. I once saw a shipment of âsmallâ t-shirts logged as âsmallsâ, which worked fine until the system thought 500 units of one size meant 500 different styles.
The goal: avoid being "that store" with 200 units of the wrong item and none of the thing customers actually want (you know, like the gas station that stocks 15 types of beef jerky but no bottled water).
This is where pick lists, kitting and fulfillment services, and quality checks save the day. One mislabeled box, and suddenly a customer ordering sneakers is unwrapping a salad spinner.
Returns are painful but inevitable. Smart systems process them fast, update counts, and reduce shrinkage. Itâs the difference between a controlled fire drill and an actual fire.
If your "system" is still an Excel sheet with 15 tabs, I have bad news. Stock moves too fast for manual tracking, and no, sticky notes on a monitor donât count as a system.
Research from Gartner highlights how most companies are doubling down on digital supply chain tools, treating automation and cloud platforms as essentials rather than extras. Because nothing says "future-proof" like knowing you wonât lose track of your top-selling product during holiday season.
Clothing inventory turns over fast. Thatâs why brands lean on apparel fulfillment companies that specialize in seasonality, returns, and presentation. Imagine racks of winter coats showing up in July without that kind of foresight.
Here, consistency is king. Subscription box fulfillment depends on precise counts so every customer gets the same curated delight. No one wants to be the subscriber who gets shorted on the fancy candle.
Stockouts here can be catastrophic. Check our supplement fulfillment services guide. Running out of multivitamins isnât just an inconvenience, it can feel like breaking a promise to your health-focused customers.
Fragile goods need tight control plus protective packaging. One wrong pick equals one expensive return, and a laptop isnât as forgiving as, say, a pair of socks.
Even giants like Amazon deal with this, juggling trillions in inventory value (SEC). If they can trip up, so can the rest of us.
Math time, but donât panic.
We covered these in depth in our supply chain formulas post. Itâs math youâll actually use.
Prioritize stock: A = high value, B = medium, C = low. Like ranking your friendships if you were coldhearted (A = ride-or-die, C = guy you nod to at the gym).
Keep as little stock as possible. Risky, but efficient when suppliers are reliable, kind of like banking on your roommate to always buy toilet paper.
Dropshipping equals you never touch the stock. 3PL equals pros handle it for you. More on this in our fulfillment process guide. Think of it as the difference between cooking every night versus having a private chef.
See whatâs next in the top fulfillment trends shaping 2025. Spoiler: robots arenât taking over, theyâre just doing the boring parts.
Quick story. I once ordered 50 packs of printer paper for a team of three people. Why? Because I confused "packs" with "reams." Cue a small forest arriving at the office. Everyone laughed. But also, we had nowhere to sit for a week.
Point is, bad stock control isnât just about money. Itâs about chaos. Itâs about your team side-eying you while they balance laptops on cardboard boxes.
At the end of the day, stock control is about trust. Your customers trust you to have what they need. Your team trusts the system not to implode. And your accountant trusts you not to tank the business by hoarding unsold junk (looking at you, fidget spinner boom of 2017).
Get it right, and youâve got a well-oiled machine. Get it wrong, and youâre the person explaining to a customer why you canât ship their order, again.
So, which one do you want to be? If youâre leaning toward the âwell-oiled machineâ side, sign up with ShipBots today and get stock control that actually makes your life easier.
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