Training staff the correct way to accept shipments and organize shipping and receiving logs is also a great way to manage inventory loss, shrinkage, damages and theft.
Training staff the correct way to accept shipments and organize shipping and receiving logs is also a great way to manage inventory loss, shrinkage, damages and theft.
– SHANNA BYNES BRADFORD, CEO OF A CLINICAL AROMATHERAPY PRODUCT COMPANY
garding product quality,” he says.
“ Properly documented inventory processes provide wholesalers with protection from both internal disputes and outside claims as well as improve overall inventory accuracy throughout the supply chain,” Weisselberger adds.
This can also be referred to as the First-Expire, First-Out( FEFO) strategy. Not all shipments arrive in the order they were brewed. A late-arriving pallet from a regional craft brewery might have an earlier " best by " date than stock received three days prior.
Here’ s how you can institute the FEFO strategy:
• Batch & Lot Tracking: Assign unique identifiers to every incoming lot. Your system should alert pickers to pull from the oldest dated batch, regardless of when it physically hit your loading dock.
• The " Short-Code " Warning System: Set automated alerts for SKUs approaching 30 % of their remaining shelf life. This allows your sales team to pivot— running " buy-in " incentives for accounts or featuring the product in seasonal bundles before it becomes unsellable.
You can have a variety of processes in place to help prevent shrinkage, but at the end of the day, if your staff are not properly trained, you’ re more likely to experience losses.
“ The most effective process to prevent and monitor inventory shrinkage is to have well-trained staff when it comes to shipping items, receiving inventory and merchandising shelves as well as your stock room,” Bradford advises.“ Training staff the correct way to accept shipments and organize shipping and receiving logs is also a great way to manage inventory loss, shrinkage, damages and theft.”
TRANSPARENCY AND COMMUNICATION
When it comes to accurately managing your inventory, effective transparency and communication are essential. No matter how much you try to plan, there will be problems. Whether it’ s delayed shipments, supply chain issues or not having enough product on hand, these issues can wreak havoc if not communicated properly.
“ Customers really appreciate transparency and communication,” Source86’ s Mizrahi says.“ Information is only useful if it’ s given at the right time. If you hold on to it, even though it’ s the same information, two weeks later, everything can change.”
This is why Mizrahi tries to give as much visibility into demand as he possibly can. The second there are any changes or updates, he’ s relaying that information to the customer.
“ There will always be changes to orders, and as long as you build good relationships, customers will be less likely to demand changes or try to rush orders,” he adds.“ But if you wait until the last minute or don’ t have a good, consistent flow of information, those conversations become a lot harder to convince customers to be more adaptable.”
KPIS FOR INVENTORY MANAGEMENT SUCCESS
In the beverage distribution world, " feeling " like the warehouse is full isn’ t a metric. To truly master your inventory, you need to track specific Key Performance Indicators( KPIs) that provide an objective look at your operational health. These metrics allow you to identify bottlenecks before they impact your bottom line or your relationships with retail accounts.
For Bradford, the three KPIs that she tracks to gauge the health of her inventory system include:
1. Inventory Turnover. A great way to track this is to make sure merchandise is on the shelves, without leaving any empty spaces.
2. Sell-Through Rate. Conducting daily inventory audits on popular SKUs is a great way to keep track of how long it takes to sell items against the inventory received and reduce the risk of having an item out of stock.
3. Supply Chain Visibility. Monitoring upcoming orders that are shipping will allow you to know what’ s arriving to prevent overstock and product inventory shortages.
Inventory turnover is also an important KPI for Mizrahi.
“ Inventory turnover is probably the biggest one,” he says.“ We have to make sure we’ re turning our inventory and that it’ s turning healthy, which lets us see how we’ re performing.”
Inventory management for beverage alcohol wholesalers is an intricate dance between data science and physical labor. By moving away from reactive " gut-feeling " ordering and embracing predictive forecasting, FEFO rotation and tracking KPIs, you transform your warehouse from a cost center into a strategic engine. •
8 Beverage Wholesaler • Spring 2026 www. beveragewholesaler. com