How to Boost the Efficiency of 3 Popular Inventory Management Techniques

Retail businesses depend on effective and efficient inventory management techniques as one of the last steps of the supply chain. To strike the perfect balance of meeting consumer demands without having excess inventory, retailers have to determine which techniques work best for them.


Several popular inventory management strategies exist, although the most widely practiced are the push, pull, and hybrid methods. Here’s what businesses should know about these strategies and how the right material handling equipment can improve their efficiency.

The Push

The push technique is all about anticipating and meeting the demand for a certain product and stocking retail locations accordingly. For example, a home goods store might keep plenty of colorful outdoor lights in stock during the holiday season but not during the summer months.

Since this inventory strategy relies on forecasting the demand for products and stocking them on a tight timeline, efficiency-boosting equipment is essential. Businesses that follow the push inventory technique should customize their hand trucks for in-store use. A 2 wheel dolly with innovative safety features and indoor-safe wheels can ensure seasonal and high-demand items are consistently pushed to the sales floor so desirable merchandise is readily available.

The Pull

Instead of anticipating product demand, the pull method responds to consumer demands and orders items from the manufacturer accordingly. This method is often the standard for retailers that sell large items—such as furniture and home appliances—as maintaining a large inventory of these items is not always realistic.

While customers expect a wait time for made-to-order items, businesses using the pull method should strive to minimize the time it takes to pull an order or offer white-glove delivery services in order to maintain a competitive edge. Safe and efficient moving equipment, such as ramps and convertible hand trucks, can help businesses following the pull method meet their consumers’ demands in a timely, efficient manner.

The Hybrid Approach

Both the push and pull methods have pros and cons, making a business-specific hybrid approach a great way to reap the benefits of both strategies and ideally avoid some of the drawbacks. Businesses that offer a wide variety of products may choose to use the push method for items that are reliably in demand while using the pull method for specialty or oversized items.

Appliance Hand Truck

Using a hybrid approach to inventory management requires accurate demand forecasting for push items and efficient delivery services for pull items. Tailored, high-quality material handling equipment is the key to balancing these two methods. A traditional dolly may be ideal for in-store stocking, whereas an appliance hand truck with a weight capacity of up to 800 pounds should be kept on hand for receiving and delivering large items.

Inventory management is an ever-evolving factor in the retail industry. Experimenting with data-driven strategies and using high-performance material handling equipment can help companies develop an effective inventory management method.

Appliance Hand Truck

About Magline

Since 1947, Magliner material handling tools have helped professionals across a variety of industries move items quickly and efficiently. From overseeing a fulfillment center to managing a customer-facing retail store, your employees need the right tools. Magliner equipment can help anyone move more in less time. The Magline team consistently raises the bar for innovation and quality, offering modular designs, cutting-edge safety features, and durable equipment. Choose from pre-designed models or Design Your Own Magliner to help your employees get their jobs done efficiently and safely. Whether your team uses a Magliner appliance hand truck to deliver furniture or a customized Magliner hand cart to make final-mile deliveries, you can count on Magliner tools.

Boost your inventory management efficiency with equipment from https://www.magliner.com/

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