Simplifying Wholesale Sales Reporting

As a food and beverage brand, managing your wholesale operations efficiently is crucial for success. One key aspect is simplifying your reporting process. By focusing on the right metrics and implementing effective systems, you can gain valuable insights into your business performance and make informed decisions.

Key Elements to Track

1. Continuously Track Sales Velocity

Sales velocity measures how quickly your products are selling. To track this effectively:

• Monitor units sold per SKU over specific periods (weekly, monthly). Using automated order solutions instead of manual ones reduces human error and makes tracking easier.
• Compare sales across different stores or regions.
• Analyze seasonal trends and their impact on sales velocity.

Pro Tip: Create a dashboard to visualize sales velocity trends and quickly identify top-performing products. Startups like Crisp make it easy to create intuitive visualizations.

2. Enable Inventory Management

Effective inventory management is essential for optimal stock levels, avoiding stockouts or overstock, and forecasting future needs. Key aspects include:

• Current inventory levels per SKU – use barcode scanning or RFID to automatically update levels.
• Inventory turnover rate.
• Safety stock levels – set alerts for low stock to trigger reordering.

Consider implementing an inventory management system integrated with POS and warehouse management.

3. Calculate the COGs (Cost of Goods Sold)

Tracking COGs is essential to understand profitability and pricing strategy. Basic formula:

COGS = Starting Inventory + Purchases – Ending Inventory

Regular inventory checks ensure correct COGs calculation. Automated inventory makes this simple.

4. Cash Flow Management

Maintaining healthy cash flow is critical. Focus on:

• Cash conversion cycle (from order to payment). Find ways to shorten it, like faster processing or renegotiated terms.
• Calculate DCOH (Days Cash on Hand).

Implementing a Simplified Reporting System

• Choose the right tools: integrated software for inventory, sales tracking, and financial reporting.
• Create customized dashboards for quick decision-making.
• Establish regular reporting schedules: weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
• Train your team: ensure they understand how to use the system and interpret data.

By focusing on these areas and implementing a streamlined reporting system, you simplify wholesale reporting, gain valuable insights, and make data-driven decisions for growth and profitability.

Remember: the goal is actionable insights without overwhelming data. Regularly review and refine processes to continue meeting your business needs as you grow.