Owning and operating an online business can be a hectic task. Especially when you start getting established and recognized as a trustworthy seller, the orders just seem to keep flowing in. It is therefore important to cultivate certain ‘good habits’ in terms of operating your business early on, so that they stick even when the business grows in scale, and one of the most important ones is making reports. We see many business owners being lethargic about making weekly reports about their business and that reflects upon their operations. Reports are a way to formally collate and store all the relevant information about your business which can be used for many things in the future. A good report can be utilized in many things – from market analysis and prediction to tax planning. This is why it is important for all online business owners to create and store a few key weekly reports. Here is more information about the 3 most important reports you should make as an online business owner.
The Absolutely Vital Weekly Reports You Have to Make
1. Sales Report
A sales report tells you the company’s sales statistics in a given period of time. It is one of the most important metrics for a business owner because it directly reflects whether the business is successful or unsuccessful. A sales manager can look at a sales report and identify market opportunities or areas where the sales volume can be increased. Since sales are generally seasonal and are dependent on holidays, festivals and special occasions, it is good to have week-to-week sales reports for the previous year handy, while planning for the current year. The prime metric that a sales report reflects during analysis is product demand. It is important to know whether the product you are selling in the market is relevant, and if so, what are the factors that contribute to its demand or lack of it. These questions are answered through a sales report.
2. Items Sold Report
Items sold report is simply a weekly list of items sold, arranged according to the quantity of each order. It is a different way of looking at the sales data, in the sense that the metric in focus in not the number of individual orders, but the number of individual items sold. This perspective unearths additional precious information about trending products and stock levels.
3. Stock and Inventory Reports
A stock report is the third most important report that a business owner will have to create. While the sales report talks about demand, the stock report is all about the supply. As a business owner, you must be adept in being able to quench the demand that the market has. This can only be done through a well stocked inventory. An inventory report tells you exactly where you are at the end of the week, and how far behind are you for the next week. You can then work on stocking up for the future based on the numbers acquired from the reports.
4. Manifest Reports
It is important to create individual manifest reports for every courier service that you employ. Each of these reports would then contain the weekly delivery details of orders assigned to that particular courier company. This is a good practice because it helps you keep a better watch on your products in transit.
5. Customers Report
Finally, customers report is filed to get information about your customers and create a database out of it. It is better if the database is designed in a way that it recognizes recurring customers and notifies you of the same. Having a contact list of all you customers goes a long way in online marketing. After all, with digital word-of-mouth, these customers are going to be your biggest advertisers.
These are some of the most important reports that you must file diligently every week. Of course, one can file additional reports like an Item Sales by Country/Region/etc. Report according to their discretion and needs. The key behind making and storing reports is that they must all function like clockwork – different reports complement each other and might exhibit similar information in novel ways. If you have any queries about reports or any other aspect of online business, get in touch with Browntape. We are India’s leading multi-channel inventory management system providers, and our experts are happy to help you in your journey to become a successful online seller.
