As mentioned, a sudden surge in product interest, or seasonal peaks (such as Black Friday Christmas), or promotional will obviously have an impact on the volume of orders you receive. Having safety stock in place will ensure that you don’t miss out on important revenue generated from your influx of sales.

Regardless of how reliable each component of your supply chain is, unforeseen issues still arise from time to time. An issue with your supplier or manufacturer might put a halt or delay on your order/shipment, meaning you need to fall back on your safety stock for the time being to ensure you aren’t missing out on sales.

The price of things are constantly on the rise, sometimes prices can rise unexpectedly and drastically though. Certain raw materials can sometimes be prone to volatility, which means the price for re-supply might change quite drastically each time you place your order with the supplier. Having safety stock helps you avoid having to re-supply during times when there is a sudden spike in prices, allowing you to place your order at a later date when the prices have hopefully dropped again.

Having safety stock in place helps improve your overall inventory management and forecasting accuracy. If you are having to dip into your safety stock often then it is a clear indication you should have more inventory on hand as there is a clear demand for your products. It will help you to calculate your re-order level more accurately too.

Can you ever have too much safety stock? The answer is yes you can.

You don’t want to constantly overstock as you may end up paying excess storage costs if your stock doesn’t move as quickly as anticipated.

If you have stock with expiry dates in and it doesn’t get sold and shipped fast enough, you will end up paying disposal fees which is not ideal either. So balance is key when it comes to safety stock levels.

Safety stock calculations are based off historical sales data. If you’re just starting out, you probably don’t have enough (or any) historical sales data which can lead to big inaccuracies when calculating your safety stock.

Not only this, safety stock calculations cannot take supply chain issues into account, or a sudden surge in demand. So during busy times you may want to inflate lead times to get a more accurate calculation of when and how much you should be ordering.

You may do a calculation once and assume that you will only ever need to do it that one time, but if you’re a growing business you will obviously naturally increase sales, meaning your safety stock levels will likely need to increase too. The calculation you make during your first year of trading is highly likely to be different to the calculation made during your second year of trading.

So, it is important to regularly review your data and cross reference this with any calculations you have made previously.

As mentioned, inaccuracies in your data will cause an overall inaccurate calculation. The calculation can only be as good as the data. Using outdated tools to track and formulate data is going to your worst enemy.

Investing in high quality, accurate inventory management tools is your best chance at gaining full accuracy in your calculations as they can help to provide up to data information which will allow you to make fully informed decisions regarding your safety stock, and business overall.

At TSP we handle everything, starting with the storage, picking, and packing of your products.

We serve a range of markets so we have experience storing, picking, and packing a variety of different products, so we’ve got you covered regardless of what you sell.

Outsourcing your pick and pack with us will help free up your time, while also improving the entire process due to our highly experienced team of staff.

Regardless of whether you just do B2C or B2B, or a mixture of both, our team have the knowledge and resources required to successfully get your orders picked, packed, and shipped to your customer or chosen retailer.

While we handle your B2B and B2C fulfilment, you can focus on putting more time and money back into other areas of your business, such as your sales, marketing, and product development.

After we pick and pack your orders, we ship them too.

We ensure you get better deals on shipping and packaging by letting you leverage our buying power, meaning you can save money and put it back into growing your business.

We also partner with a range of couriers, ensuring the needs of your business are being met through a diverse choice in reliable couriers.

We are your one stop solution for all Amazon seller services, including FBA, FBM and SFP. With over 20 years of industry experience you can be assured that we are fully equipped to support you..

So regardless of what Amazon service you’re using, or if its a mix of all 3, we’ve got you covered. Check out our Amazon page for more information regarding our Amazon fulfilment services.

Our cloud-based inventory management system, Mintsoft is easy to navigate and provides you with real time updates so you can always make informed decisions about your stock.

Returns are inevitable when it comes to your eCommerce business, but managing them correctly is a critical aspect on 3PL services. Here at TSP, we will handle the entire process from start to finish, helping you to main a high level of customer satisfaction.

Are you a sustainable business? Looking to become more sustainable? Working with us means you can do your bit for the planet too, since we are a certified carbon neutral 3PL company.

Do you sell custom bundles or kits? We’ve got you covered. Our team is trained in kitting and bundle building, so you can be assured your customers will receive their orders in an accurate, timely manner.

Do you require international shipping, or are you looking to expand into global markets? We’ve got you covered with our extensive network of couriers and global warehouses.

Explore our global fulfilment solutions page to see how we can help you dominate the global market, right from the heart of Newcastle.

Here at TSP we are one of the very few Newcastle based order fulfilment companies with a dry bonded warehouse license.

Our network of freight forwarders means you can easily utilise the power of cross-border selling, allowing you to boost sales and drive growth.