Pet shop inventory management: no more empty shelves, expired stock or lost sales
Practical ways to cut stock losses in your pet shop with minimum stock levels, batch and expiry tracking, supplier records and a regular stock count routine.
· 5 min read · The ZooAsist Team
In a pet shop, inventory costs you money in two ways: running out loses sales, and overstocking leaves products sitting on the shelf until they expire. With regular purchases like pet food, the first day a client can't find what they're looking for, they go to another shop, and often never come back.
Set a minimum level for every product
A minimum stock level means "reorder when it falls below this number". For fast-moving foods, it should cover what you'll sell during the supplier's lead time; for slow-moving accessories, one or two units is enough. Having the products that fall below their level gathered in one list takes the guesswork out of order day.
Give every movement a reason
Stock doesn't only go down through sales: damaged items, expired items, count discrepancies and returns all change it too. Recording these movements with a reason answers the question "why is stock short?" at the end of the month. A shortfall with no known reason is usually a loss that has gone unnoticed.
- Purchase: products received from a supplier
- Sale: products sold on a receipt
- Return: products brought back by a client
- Count: the difference between the physical count and the system
- Expired / damaged: products that can't be sold
Record batch numbers and expiry dates at stock-in
Pet food, treats and care products all have expiry dates. Recording the batch number and expiry date when stock comes in shows which batch needs to be sold first. Moving older batches to the front when you stack the shelves also noticeably reduces the amount of expired stock.
Record the supplier with the product
When a product runs out, knowing who you bought it from and at what price speeds up reordering. Having purchase prices on record lets you compare suppliers and set your selling prices correctly.
A monthly stock count
However good the system, stock figures aren't reliable without a physical count. Rather than counting the whole shop in one go, counting one category each week splits the work up and makes it easier. Correct the differences with a "count" movement, so you can also see when the discrepancy arose.
In ZooAsist, every sale and purchase updates your inventory instantly, movements are recorded with a reason, products that fall below their minimum level are listed, and the stock report shows the value of your stock at purchase price.