After a long morning of grueling work, your customer’s lunch hour has finally arrived. They rush to your deli, dreaming about their go-to Italian sub — only to discover you’re out of salami.
Committed to satisfying their craving, they’ll head to another deli across the street, costing you a sale and a loyal customer.
If this deli disaster sounds familiar, then it’s time to upgrade your inventory approach. In this blog, we’ll share everything you need to know about deli inventory management, including how to keep your customers happy, your coolers well-stocked, and your profits high.
Why Is Deli Inventory Management Important?
There’s no way around it: overhauling your deli inventory management process is no easy task. You’ll have to adopt new processes, invest in new equipment, and spend time training your team.
But mastering the art of deli inventory management is worth the time and effort. Here are just a few reasons why a solid inventory plan is a must-have for deli success:
- Food safety: Compliance with federal and local food safety regulations should be one of your top priorities as a deli owner, and the right inventory management approach helps you guarantee fresh, safe products.
- Waste reduction: Without a waste-conscious inventory management strategy, you could be throwing hundreds of dollars of meat and cheese away every month. To protect your profits, you need a way to sell all of your stock before its expiration date.
- Customer satisfaction: If you don’t have your customers’ favorite products on hand when they stop by, they’ll head to another deli — and they might not come back. Monitoring your inventory in real time is key to preventing these stockouts.
In short, learning the right techniques and investing in the right deli inventory management tools can prevent costly stockouts, reduce spoilage and waste, and protect your bottom line.
5 Deli Inventory Management Best Practices
Now that we’ve covered the why of deli inventory management, let’s dive into the how. Here are five best practices we recommend following — plus detailed tips on implementing them.
1. Invest in High-Quality Meats and Cheeses
The most effective way to attract customers to your deli is to offer the best ingredients in town.
Your customers should feel confident in the quality of your bread, meats, cheeses, toppings, and dressings, knowing that whatever they order will be delicious and fresh.
One of our top tips for deli inventory management is to partner with various reliable suppliers. Instead of relying on one vendor to stock everything in your deli, do your research to find the best sources of meat, cheese, and other sandwich must-haves to ensure that you offer the most impressive selection in the neighborhood.
How To Do It
Wrangling multiple vendors might sound like a lot of work, but a deli point of sale (POS) system with built-in vendor management tools can make it a breeze.
One essential vendor management feature to look for is integrated purchase order creation, which lets you generate purchase orders directly from your POS software. This tool simplifies the restocking process and makes ordering items from multiple vendors easier.
2. Take a Weight-Based Approach
Why do delis sell meat and cheese by the pound rather than by the slice? The answer is accuracy.
Without a weight-based approach, your customers will receive a different amount of product every time they order, which reduces their trust in your business. You’ll also have to deal with constant pricing and inventory record errors — which can slow down your operations and dent your profits.
We recommend tracking and selling your deli’s products by weight. That way, you can turn every last ounce of your inventory into profit.
How To Do It
To implement a weight-based deli inventory management strategy, all you need is a POS system with scale integration and a reliable deli scale.
Let’s say your customer approaches the deli counter to order a pound and a half of ham. With scale integration, you can slice their order, place it on the scale, and generate a barcode label that includes the exact weight and price. When it’s time to check out, all your cashier has to do is scan the barcode, and your POS system will charge the right price and deduct the ham from your stock records.
3. Use a First In, First Out (FIFO) Policy
A first in, first out (FIFO) approach is foundational to good deli inventory management. This strategy involves selling your oldest products first, ensuring customers purchase them before their expiration dates.
This simple method ensures smooth inventory turnover and reduces waste — both of which are critical for effective deli inventory management.
How To Do It
There are two key ingredients for FIFO deli inventory management: thorough labeling and employee training.
First, let’s talk about labeling. Your deli’s products should be clearly labeled with information like the product type, exact weight, and price per pound — along with the packing and expiration dates. These dated labels will help you organize your stock and place the oldest items near the front of your deli display case.
Our next tip for implementing a FIFO approach is to train your staff. Since it’s likely your team members’ responsibility to restock your deli display cases, make sure they know why and how to organize products from oldest to newest.
Related Read: Creating Deli Labels: 3 Best Label Printers for Grocery Stores
4. Plan Strategic Promotions
Unfortunately, you can’t always strike the perfect balance between overstocking and understocking, and you’ll find yourself in an inventory surplus.
This frustrating problem can put a major dent in your bottom line unless you leverage the power of strategic promotions.
A well-planned promotion can boost your inventory turnover rates, prevent waste, and ensure you turn a profit on every ounce of meat and cheese in your deli.
For example, if you have a surplus of turkey in your coolers, consider running a limited-time flash sale, offering customers a discount they can’t turn down. This promotion will bring new customers through your door and ensure you sell all of the turkey before it becomes a loss.
How To Do It
To run surplus-busting promotions, you need to keep a close eye on your stock levels. Use a deli POS system with real-time inventory monitoring to detect when you have more meat or cheese in stock than you expect to sell, then act quickly to offer and advertise your discount.
Sending a timely email or SMS message to your most loyal customers is a great way to spread the word about your flash sale, so make sure your POS system’s customer management tool integrates with a marketing platform for quick and easy communication.
5. Analyze Your Sales Reports for Long-Term Planning
Setting up your deli inventory management plan isn’t a one-and-done project. Instead, you should approach it as an ongoing process, constantly working to better understand your customers and optimize your stock.
For example, you might check your sales reports and notice an emerging trend of customers purchasing lighter options, like wraps made with vegetables and lean meats like turkey or chicken. You can then use this data to expand your deli menu with healthier options, catering to your customers’ changing preferences and boosting sales.
How To Do It
A data-driven deli inventory management approach depends on a POS system with powerful sales reporting capabilities. Look for one that tracks your sales and inventory changes in real time, and then breaks down this data into digestible reports.
In particular, look for a deli POS system that reveals your overall sales performance, daily and seasonal sales trends, and bestselling and underperforming products.
Make Deli Inventory Management Easy With Markt POS
Ready to work smarter and not harder when it comes to deli inventory management? Our top tip is to invest in a POS system specifically designed for delis like yours.
Markt POS has all the features you need to take charge of your deli inventory, including real-time stock monitoring, integrated purchase orders, scale integration, and barcode deli label printing. Plus, you can boost your sales using our software’s built-in customer loyalty program, marketing integration, and flexible promotion features.
See Markt POS in action by scheduling a personalized demo with one of our deli experts today.
