Retail Records Management: The Problems & The Solutions
Looking for the best way to manage documents in your retail business? Take a look at this article for handy information.
The retail industry is going through quite the transformation. Fast fashion is trendy now, with many online-only shops doing incredibly well, especially linked with social media marketing. High street shops are keeping level with online shops by shifting across to online sales and remaining as competitive as possible by keeping costs down.
In such a competitive industry, it is so important that every square foot of space used is used, and it possibly can be. It is also important that staff members are working as well as they can during their working hours. Messy documentation storage causes issues in both of these areas, but there is a better solution. You can arrange the company’s documentation in a better way that saves space and employee time.
Let’s take a closer look at problems and solutions for retail document management:
Retail Document Management Problems
Time Drainage
Bad document management causes a huge drain on precious time. Retail employees who have a role within the administration have to work with purchasing, HR, product and health and safety documentation, and other types. Data stored badly can take lots of time to manage and work through. If it isn’t digitized either, there’s not even a way to get the digital copy up on a computer quickly. Employee productivity is affected because extra time has to be taken to find documents.
Retail Records Management: Human Error
Document management that isn’t done well is a huge issue when it comes to human error. Documents that are not properly protected online or offline are then open to being lost, damaged, or put into the wrong hands. This is a huge problem when the data is sensitive, and it can be time-consuming to replace lost pieces, especially if it happens repeatedly.
Environmental Risk
Documents stored incorrectly can be at risk of damage from flooding, fire, mold, and mildew. This kind of environmental risk can be hugely detrimental to any company, particularly retail companies storing customer details.
Paper Usage
Paper usage is a huge issue with companies that aren’t yet fully digitized. Retail companies working with clothes, in particular, are being pushed to be more eco-friendly as the clothes industry causes 10% of the entire world’s carbon emissions. Although nothing is going to happen overnight, dealing with paper wastage in a better way is a really good first step for retail companies looking to get better eco-credentials.
Office Space
Using office space for paper storage is extremely problematic. It is expensive, open to theft and environmental damage, and it uses up space you could be using for staff, retail sales, and stock storage.
Solving The Retail Document Storage Problem
Companies need to harness two approaches to solving their paper issues properly. One approach is to ensure their paperwork is digitized or plans to be digitized at some point.
Some cheap self-storage companies have digitizing services that can help get the ball rolling. You can then include online security and organization with digitization, which helps keep the information secure and easy to access.
Storing paperwork that cannot yet be destroyed in cheap self-storage (see https://storing.com) is a really great idea as the second approach to solving the above issues. This helps to get the paperwork out of the office and stored safely in a unit that is not at risk of environmental damage or theft.
These two approaches help to save money and time, they boost the security, organization, and protection of the documents too.
Individual retail companies should always consult specialists for advice on sensitive information and how to store and digitize it legally and properly. Do always start your document storage management changes after proper advice.
