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The rapid emergence of dark stores resulted in a paradigm shift in the quick commerce retail sector. Such stores are primarily focused on serving the remote buying populace which makes them major stakeholders in e-commerce and grocery delivery.
As such, the dark store segment is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 36.6% in the period spanning from 2023 to 2030, reflecting how important they are becoming in the retail supply chain.
However, like any other type of store, dark stores do have challenges when it comes to inventory monitoring. In the situation of dark stores, efficient inventory management during peak times is critical to avoid stockouts and ensure rapid fulfillment of customers’ demands.
One example is the ineffective use of inventory data which can be easily solved through web scraping. An accurate extraction and analysis of SKU-level dark store data will enhance stock levels and ensure better fulfillment of stores’ operational needs.
The focus of this article is to provide insights into how dark store operators can utilize web scrapping as a best practice for enhancing inventory control and meeting ever-rising customer expectations.
What Are SKUs? Why does it Matter in Inventory Management?
Image Source: thebalancemoney
SKU means Stock Keeping Unit, which means that every item on sale in your store has a unique tag, or SKU, attached to it. It is a code that retailers use to track products, control inventory, and manage restocking. Usually, an SKU is related to a product variant, which can be color, size, or model. This way, the retailer can differentiate products under the same category.
Let us imagine a store that specializes in T-shirt sales. They may have a type of T-shirt that has multiple colors and sizes, from basic to advanced designs. There are various combinations of size and color, which can all be set by SKUs.
• T-shirt (Size M, Color Red) = SKU 12345
• T-shirt (Size M, Color Blue) = SKU 12346
• T-shirt (Size L, Color Red) = SKU 12347
• T-shirt (Size L, Color Blue) = SKU 12348.
Retailers, as well as dark store operators, are capable of better monitoring and managing their stock on sale thanks to the integration of these unique SKUs, making more informed decisions as to what stock is purchased based on sales statements.
Why Are SKUs Crucial for Inventory Data?
Every business needs to keep a close eye on their inventory details and SKUs help in providing valuable insights into them. In what way do SKUs aid in this?
1. Correct Unit Calculation:
SKUs ensure that all items of similar nature are classified and stored in the same way as it was defined in the system. Selling of SKUs updates the stock on hand through a decrease function, which helps operators monitor the stock in real-time.
2. Efficient Order Processing:
In dark stores where orders are to be completed in less than a minute, SKUs make picking and packing very efficient. Employees can easily use the SKU code to locate items which enables quicker movement of goods through the warehouse, quicker shipment times, and better service levels.
3. Business Intelligence:
The use of sales SKUs promotes the ability to analyze business performance at a more granular level. If a particular SKU is selling swiftly, it indicates greater demand and action to fully stock should be taken. On the other hand, SKUs that seem to be gathering dust can be marked down or re-promoted to enhance sales.
4. Inventory Optimization:
While precise SKU information helps in maintaining the right stock level, neither understocking nor overstocking occurs. As the sales rate for every SKU is understood by the businesses, intelligent decisions can be made regarding the amount of inventory which, eliminates excess costs and streamlines efficiency.
5. Improved Reporting:
Retailers can pull SKU data as well as generate additional reports that include stock turnover and product performance. SKUs certainly enhance the ability to classify inventory aiding in deep analyses. All this information is instrumental in formulating informed strategic decisions to improve inventory management practices.
To summarize, inventory SKUs are simple yet powerful tools that not only classify the items but also aid in effective monitoring and control of other processes related to stock maintenance in a retailer’s inventory. This is extremely beneficial to retailers or dark store operators attempting to improve their fulfillment strategies through accuracy in analytics gained via web scraping.
What is Web Scraping? How Does it Help with Inventory Data?
As we begin to explore extracting SKU-level data, it is paramount to understand the concept of web scraping and its functionalities.
Web scraping refers to a data extraction technique from websites. It employs the use of specific software or bots that scan websites, one after another, to gather the required information. For inventory management, web scraping may be utilized to harvest SKU information from competing webpages, e-commerce sites, as well as the inventory management system of the business.
Moreover, web scraping enables dark store operators to harvest pertinent inventory information from numerous sources irrespective of the websites’ categorization. This process allows retailers to automate the collection of information from websites, minimizing the amount of time and resources invested; while ensuring they have accurate and current information as regards their stock.
How Web Scraping Helps Optimize Fulfillment Strategies?
At the core of dark store success lies effective fulfillment strategies. These strategies are largely dependent on SKU data harvesting through web scraping. Here are some examples:
1. Dynamic Stock Replenishment
Dark stores, by their nature, need to be responsive to demand. With insights from SKU-level data, dark store operators are able to track stock levels in real-time, which, in turn, enables them to replenish inventory well in time and avoid stockouts for high-demand products.
2. Demand Forecasting
A dark store manager is able to forecast demand more precisely by analyzing past sales data and competitor inventory levels with the help of web scraping.
If a certain product is performing well on a competitor’s site, that likely indicates that demand for the product will increase, so the dark store will need to change its stock levels accordingly.
3. Localized Inventory Management
As dark stores are frequently multi-branch, keeping track of stock levels in different places can be quite challenging. Web scraping offers a clearer picture of the availability of certain SKUs which makes it possible for operators to effectively manage stock levels across various dark store locations.
4. Optimizing Product Placement
Analyzing SKU performance on various platforms can enable dark store users to optimize product placement within their fulfillment centers. With this information, dark store operators could position frequently ordered items closer to the packing area, thus enabling faster fulfillment times.
How to Integrate a Data Inventory Tool for Real-Time Insights?
In order to fully maximize SKU data, the proper maximization needs to be in place. This is where a data inventory tool comes in. These tools are created to work effortlessly with web scraping tools and offer real-time access to much-needed inventory data.
A data inventory tool enables dark store operators to monitor product availabilities, sales activities, and even competitor inventory levels in real-time. These can proactively inform stock level adjustments to ensure that the store always has the product on hand to fulfill customer orders in a timely manner.
Also, these tools can work with other systems like order management and warehouse management systems (WMS) to better align inventory data and fulfillment activities.
The efficacy of these data tools can still be heightened by API-driven solutions, allowing dark stores to obtain inventory data from multiple sources and use them in their systems instantaneously. API inventory data allows operators to automate data collection, making it possible to expedite the entire inventory management process.
Conclusion
The popularity of dark stores increases with every passing minute, which in turn fuels the pace of integrating data into inventory management even more. Currently, operators of dark stores can now procure and assess SKU information with the aid of web scraping techniques more quickly and accurately than ever before. They will be able to keep pace with the evolution of customer preferences as well as enhance strategies for meeting their needs.
In the future, we can expect even more sophisticated data management tools and API integration for simplified inventory management. Retailers should be able to gain more value out of their SKU data which should enable advanced demand prediction, improved stock refill policies, and superior inventory management.At PromptCloud, we specialize in providing powerful web scraping tools and data solutions to help you optimize SKU data and enhance your fulfillment strategies. Schedule a demo with us today and see how our custom scraping services can help you streamline operations, improve stock management, and meet customer demands faster than ever before!
