Physical inventory count best practices

Stores perform physical inventory counts periodically to determine the quantity of items on hand and to update the store's database if there is a difference between the physical count and the database.

Perform at least one full inventory count each year

The frequency of a store's physical inventory counts depends on several factors. All stores should complete at least one physical inventory count each year, typically at the end of the fiscal year. Most stores complete physical inventory counts twice a year or more frequently.

Consider performing partial inventory counts more frequently

You can use Store Manager to perform either a full inventory count of every item in the store or a partial inventory count of the items in a section of the store, such as a department or set of aisles. Depending on the size of your store, performing a full inventory count can be time consuming and labor intensive. You may find it easier to perform partial inventory counts on a more frequent basis, such as quarterly.

Perform inventory counts while the store is closed and hire help if needed

The best practice is to perform a physical inventory count while the store is closed. If you cannot perform the physical inventory count during this time with your existing team members, consider contracting a third party vendor to perform the count for you. An inventory count vendor can provide a large, trained team to perform the count, and they typically provide their own hand-held devices for scanning and counting your inventory.

Prepare for the inventory count

Before you initiate a physical inventory count, make sure that all shelf and product labels are up-to-date and clearly visible. Depending on your store size, consider creating a zone map of the store that clearly identifies which sections of the store need to be counted. The zones should be small enough to be counted by one or two people without overlap, such as two separate aisles.

Avoid setting expectations about quantities

Do not provide your team members with expected item counts for the physical inventory count. This can inadvertently affect the perception of team members and result in inaccurate counts. For example, giving team members a list that includes expected quantities can lead them to think their count is complete once they have counted the expected number of items. The best practice is to provide only a list of items to count, with no information about how many items you expect to be on hand.