Seasonal Inventory: Gnome your demand

As soon as the sun hits the UK, everyone is stocking up on their essential summer supplies. However, with summer days and alfresco nights upon us, staying on top of your seasonal inventory can be challenging. Given that the met office has already issued hot weather warnings across the UK, how can you be sure you have the right amount of stock? Have you forecasted your seasonal demand accurately? How can you prepare for the end of season?

With temperatures looking to skyrocket in May, demand for summer products will no doubt surge. Over the May bank holiday alone, sales of paddling pools increased by 50% whilst garden gnomes prove to the biggest driver of sales within the garden category.

The challenge for businesses is that sales of these products are often almost entirely driven by seasonal demand. In some cases, these products may sell exclusively at a particular time of year. Consequently, supply chain teams need to buy and manage seasonal inventory carefully in order to fully exploit the opportunity to profit!

Seasonal inventory – Take control

Inventory is required to satisfy customer demand. However, the actual level of inventory required is influenced by a number of factors:rnrn• Volatility in supplyrn• Supplier constraints such as minimum order quantityrn• The stocking strategy in placern• contractual service level agreements with customersrn• Purchasing economies of scale & cost optimisationrn• Minimisation of delivery costsrn• Level of service expected by the customer