(Australia-NewsWire.Com, January 22, 2016 ) Jilliby, New South Wales -- The Christmas period is traditionally the busiest time of year on Amazon. Typically sales can reach 3 to 4 times their usual volumes. This is great for sellers on Amazon but it can also pose other headaches and problems. Guitar cable seller Rig Ninja experienced such problems in the 2015 Christmas rush season.
For a business starting out in sales of inventory, the pressure is high to get the balance right with sufficient inventory levels while not tying up too much cash in inventory. Rig Ninja's supply of Guitar Cables ran out just prior to Christmas causing lost sales opportunities and loss of ranking position on Amazon's Musical Instrument category.
A spokesman from Rig Ninja said "we got that balance wrong this year but we have learned some valuable lessons in inventory management to apply next Christmas". In the lead up to such a busy sales period, a seller could take a number of approaches to their inventory management. They could plow a whole lot of cash in and ensure that they had a massive amount of stock to cover the sales rush. The problem with this approach is that most new businesses do not have large amounts of cash to tie up and these businesses are usually in an evaluation stage for their product. The spokesman said that this was certainly the case for Rig Ninja.
The consequences of running out of stock certainly make it a situation to be avoided. Besides the obvious issue of missing opportunities for sales at the busiest sales time of the year, there is also an impact on ranking on Amazon. Sellers on Amazon work hard to increase sales velocity and volumes in an effort to climb the rankings of their particular categories and increase their visibility to buyers. Once stock is sold out and sales stop, the ranking drops gradually over time until new stock arrives, while other listings continue to sell and move ahead on the rankings. This means that those rankings will need to be rebuilt when stock is replenished. Rig Ninja was making steady progress up the charts of their categories until the stock was sold out.
When questioned about why Rig Ninja allowed this to happen, their spokesman said "We had an inventory replenishment plan in place however, we lost focus on that with all of the other demands of the busy Christmas period. I guess you could say that we procrastinated on getting production moving. Our plan for 2016 to ensure we don't run out of stock is to commence production for the Christmas/New Year period by mid-November giving plenty of lead-time and to be able to focus 100% on customer service during December and January."
The spokesman went on to say that they had sufficient sales data from 2015 to be able to gauge the level of sales in 2016 and replenish accordingly so that stocks would last until at least February 2017. The company says they will place a higher emphasis on inventory planning in future to avoid lost sales over the peak Christmas buying season.
About Rig Ninja
Rig Ninja provides a range of products that help guitarists get the most out of their equipment. The company is a supplier of quality guitar and amplifier accessories. Their vision is to provide first class products and service to inspire music enthusiasts and professionals to deliver a masterful performance and craft a sound that they can truly be proud to own.