One of the fundamental inventory management issues that all businesses have to tackle is seasonal demand. Whether we are looking at festive seasons like Dussehra and Diwali in India or back-to-school dates, inventory demand tends to go up. It’s crucial for business owners to forecast and observe seasonal changes in order to plan their inventory better, anticipate any stockouts, and avoid overstocking and sales losses. The reason why seasonal inventory management is important is that it helps businesses identify the inventory they require, at the right time. In this article, we will explain what seasonal demand is and its impact on inventory, and introduce some practical strategies for better seasonal inventory management.
Comprehending Seasonal Demand
Seasonal demand denotes the anticipated cyclic shifts in customer’s demand across certain times of the year. Consumer spending picks up during festivals such as Diwali, Eid and Christmas every year in India, and one can witness higher sales in the retail, electronics and fashion retail sectors. Summer and winter also bring higher demand for products related to air conditioners, fans or winter wear depending upon the season. Businesses need to plan and align their inventory management strategies to available seasonal trends so that they can cater to customer demands without compromising on their inflated costs.
Seasonal demand poses several challenges to inventory management:
Stockouts:
In the high seasons, for instance, inadequate stocks may be prepared due to an unpredictable high demand, and as a consequence, some sales are lost and disappointed-customers ensue. For example, a retailer who failed to order festive clothes in anticipation of Diwali would have missed out on significant business.
Overstocking:
On the other hand, the business might overestimate the demand and, in the process, overstock the inventory, which in turn costs the business more in inventory holding cost. One classic example is when the clothing firms stock up the winter wear and then realise that this is the only merchandise they are unable to sell in the course of the year due to the end of the winter season, which they have failed to predict, This forces the retailers to sell them at very cheap prices to clear their shelves and thus lower their profit margins.
Supply Chain Strain:
This often creates a lot of stress to meet high levels of consumption in summer by sourcing raw materials, hence causing delay in transportation and cost increases sharply. For example, in the case of manufacturers, there can be an issue in meeting the production rate during extremely busy periods like the wedding season in India that affect delivery and stock.
Preparing for Concessionary Seasonality:
Some Strategies With such patterns of sales, the specific business must necessarily employ different principles of inventory management. Here are some proven strategies:
Accurate Demand Forecasting:
It is true that having accurate demand forecasts is key to good seasonal demand management. This implies that when organisations have the historical data of sales and the trend analysis of the market, it becomes easy to estimate the level of demand that is expected at a particular season For instance, ‘Myntra’, the Indian fashion e-tailer, employed sophisticated mathematical models to predict demand for various categories of products during the festive period. This helps them to effectively order the stocks to avoid instances where there is no stock or instances where there are excess stocks.
Flexible Supply Chains:
This brings the flexibility of the supply chain ensured, thereby enabling a prompt adjustment to the demand. Regular supplier dealing, extension of sources and JIT systems adopted by the business are some ways in which inventory may be effectively controlled. For instance, BigBasket, an e-grocer with the largest market base in India, has a well-constructed supply management mechanism helping it expand during yuletide periods like New Year or Pongal.
Inventory Buffer:
Every company should ensure they have safety stocks, which is another inventory management technique of coping with unpredicted high demand. At the same time, this issue should not be overdone and the buffer should be adjusted based on the company’s budget. A classic example is Fabindia, which holds a minor safety stock for products such as ethnic wear and home dècor during festive months. This also helps the business to be capable of fulfilling customer expectations on the products to be supplied on the market without compromising on the quantities stocked.
Seasonal promotions and clearance sales:
Some measures that companies can take after the season to get rid of excess inventory include having further sales promotions or clearance sales. It also benefits removing stocks that did not generate a lot of sales while providing a shopping attraction to bargain hunters. Lifestyle and Shoppers Stop, etc. , usually conduct sale campaigns during the off season of winter or summer collections to ensure good stock turnover.
Conclusion
Flexibility in inventory management, which allows companies to adjust to seasonal demands, has its advantages but also comes with drawbacks. Therefore, if businesses fully appreciate the implications of these oscillations, and employ splendid ideas like; forecasting, rocking supply chains, inventory hedges, and strategic promotional plans, they can fully harness the benefits of shifts in stock velocities.
In the ever-fluid market that is India, cultural influence and seasonal changes have been known to have a substantial impact on the consumer market, A well-prepared business for the upcoming seasons is likely to have A positive impact on its financial position. That’s why you should arrange your business today to face whatever the future holds in the light of seasonal demand.
