While this post is written about woven labels, the same features and concepts exist for embroidered patches.
Obviously, woven labels are an essential part of apparel branding, so it is important to manage the inventory of how many labels you want to keep in stock, especially when you are producing your products on demand.
However, keeping track of how many labels you have, how many you have used, and when to order more labels can be a bit overwhelming. We've made this process as simple as possible, by allowing you to control your inventory with a few simple settings.
Automating your label inventory is simple to setup
When you activate inventory management, your subscription will automatically be renewed when it expires or when your minimum threshold is reached. Anytime you purchase more labels it's subscription is automatically extended for a year.
Go to your
subscriptions page within your Apliiq account and find the subscription that you'd like to activate inventory management for. Simply toggle the automatic inventory setting to the on (green) position.
Next, click the link to "change these settings" to setup your inventory rules.
How to pick the best threshold for when to order more labels
The inventory threshold is a number at which you will automatically purchase more of the exact same label.
Picking the correct inventory threshold is important to keep the correct amount of labels in stock for your needs. If you set the threshold too low, you risk running out of labels when you need them. If you set the threshold too high you will be stocking (and paying for) more labels than you really need.
Since it can take about a month from when you purchase labels till they are created, it is best to keep at least a month's supply of labels in stock, maybe a touch more just to be safe. This means, you should estimate how many products you are planning to sell each month and set that as your minimum threshold. If you don't purchase apparel every month, it's best to keep enough labels in stock to support the quantity of labels for a typical order size. So if you typically order 200 items at a time, it would be best to keep at least 200 labels in stock at all times.
For example, if you are just getting started and don't have any sales projects, setting an inventory threshold of 25 products is probably a suitable starting point. If you notice that sales are picking up, it is simple to increase your threshold to ensure you hold more labels in stock.
On the other hand, if you have an existing brand and are already selling 250 products per month, it is probably best to set your threshold at 300 or more labels, to ensure you will always have a constant supply of labels on hand to meet your demand.
Picking how many labels to purchase
When your label inventory reaches the pre-determined threshold you set, you will automatically purchase a pre-specified quantity of label. Buying a larger quantities of labels upfront has the benefit of better pricing.